Integration of Population Variables into Development Planning

The National Population Policy (Revised Edition, 1994) identified the interrelationship between population, sustained economic growth and sustainable development as a critical issue that requires attention. This realization is in line with the tenets and objectives of the Programme of Action adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt in 1994.

The ICPD PoA called on governments to fully integrate population concerns into the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all policies and programmes relating to cultural, economic and social development including resource allocation at all levels and regions. In response to this, the National Population Council took steps to ensure that population concerns are high on the national agenda by building the capacity of policy makers and planners to appreciate and utilise population data in development planning.

To assist the District Assemblies to integrate population variables into development planning, training workshops are organised to improve the human resource capacity of district officials to effectively utilize population data for planning purposes. Fifteen training modules have been developed by the Department of Planning of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science at the request of the National Population Council (NPC) for this purpose. They cover important issues such as the systems concept of development; population and development; planning for health, education, housing, water and sanitation. NPC collaborates with academic institutions including the Regional Institute of Population Studies and the Institute of Local Government Studies and the Department of Planning at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to incorporate the training modules into their mainstream curricula.