Reflect on population trends - Mesumbe

The Chief of Service for Planning at the Southwest Regional Delegation of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, MINEPAT, Clifford Mesumbe, has employed this year’s World Population Day theme to emphasize the need to check population growth as a means to surmount unendurable situations.

Mesumbe was speaking in an exclusive interview he granted The Post in his office Friday, July 11, as a reminder to public awareness and as part of activities to mark the World Population Day.

‘This twenty-fifth edition of the World’s Population Day is commemorated under the theme ‘A Time to Reflect on Population Trends and Related Issues,’ which serves as a direct acknowledgement that things change every day. This shows that the problems of yesterday are not likely to be the troubles of today, thus growing trends, especially on African plagues, should be handled simultaneously with the evolving state of affairs.

The theme also connotes the need for the population to diagnose plagues and see how they can be managed or completely wiped-out,’ Mesumbe explained.

He further reiterated the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, including the improvement of children and mother health, promoting basic education for all especially girls to intensify the fight against unemployment, promoting equality and equity between sexes, promoting the rational use of land and environmental protection, improve the conditions necessary for development to safeguard the family and the individual, improve conditions for the implementation and follow-up and evaluation of population programmes.

Mesumbe continued by stating that “The Declaration of the National Population Policy, DNPP which was elaborated and adopted on July 28, 1992, by the National Population Commission ,NPC, was meant to face the following challenges; the increasing population, the desertion of rural areas, the overpopulated towns, the growing demand for employment and the degradation of the environment.

This declaration he said was later updated and validated in 2002 in order to take into consideration the multiple changes that took place at both national and international levels.

“Thus, it leans on one part on national laws and development priorities and on the other part, on international engagements to which the Government subscribed, notably the recommendations arrived at from the International Conference on Population and Development, ICPD, held in Cairo in 1994,”Mesumbe recapitulated.

In line with this disclosure, Mesumbe told this reporter that MINEPAT had a recent evaluation meeting on Population Policies and some of the outcomes included; 70 percent realisation of equipping the regional laboratory for the diagnosis of simple illnesses, diseases, 399 cases of measles were investigated with 2 epidemics in Limbe and Bakassi and riposte vaccination campaigns carried out in both districts, more than 6,000 youths coached on responsible sexual behaviour in schools and during public events on topics like Behaviour change communication, building self esteem, stigma and discrimination, adolescence and drug abuse, opening of 22 Nursery and Primary schools in 2013/2014, 375 farmers had a functional literacy programme and more.

Reacting to the significance of the day, a Buea city dweller and travelling agent, Fabrice Esimo, started by highlighting the Population Policy of the Southwest Region. “The National Population Policy of Cameroon in the Southwest Region aims at improving the standard and quality of life of the population in the Region, within the framework of sustainable human development and in conformity with human dignity and fundamental human rights by ensuring a balance between population growth and available and accessible resources. The bottom line here is to provide Cameroon with a high quality human potential,” Esimo Stated.

Meanwhile, another Buea inhabitant, and vendor, Esther Forbin, spoke to this reporter showing signs of agony with respect to current afflictions. “Many people are suffering from diseases and poverty, yet Government is doing little to improve livelihood and living conditions respectively. Our human rights are still not respected, as injustice still prevails,” Forbin lamented.

The main activities to commemorate this year’s World Population Day were officiated in Bamenda, Northwest Region of Cameroon by the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development.