Under the patronage of H.E, Prime Minister Mr. Mohamed Naji Otri, SCFA with the support of UNFPA is launching the first State of Syria Population Report (SSPR) on Monday 27 April 2009, 10:00 am at Four Seasons Hotel.

Ms. Delia Barcelona, Deputy Director of UNFPA Arab States Regional Office (ASRO) will attend the launch event. National counterparts, NGOs and International organizations are invited to participate in this event.

The State of Syria Population Report (SSPR), which is the first of its kind, aims at establishing analytical and scientific reference and in-depth knowledge on the state of population in Syria at all levels. This in turn will help in enhancing dynamic linkages between population and development, building comprehensive awareness of current and future challenges that come from demographic changes within the two coming decades and its effects on development strategies, policies and plans at the national and local levels.

The report will also help in catalyzing all population related parties efforts to integrate population issues within the development process, especially for policy and decision makers, to transfer the expected population growth within the coming two decades, to a driving force for development, instead of being a burden on development process and its limited resources.

The SSPR is the outcome of the collective national efforts exerted in the field of population and development, and as already noted, seeks to promote awareness & understanding of the population and development interlinkages. With a clear-cut focus on the issues as described above, the SSPR discusses the priority population and development issues in the framework of 9 chapters embracing population growth and dynamics, population characteristics and their linkages with human and natural resources as well as population related challenges.