Dr. Saleh bin Mohammed Al-Nabit: Qatar's Population Policy is an ongoing project that keeps pace with ambitious development plans
Qatar, like other countries, celebrates World Population Day, in response to the recommendation of the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which approved in 1989 that 11th July each year be observed by the international community as World Population Day. This annual event aims to raise awareness of population-related issues and to focus attention on the urgency and importance of such issues in the context of comprehensive development plans and programs, and the need to find solutions to such issues.
Qatar's interest in population issues stems from its nonstop project and approach to building an advanced society based on the principle of respect for human rights and continuous improvement of the standard of living of its residents, both citizens and residents. Such interest was reflected in Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030 that was issued in 2008, which calls for the “development of all Qatar's people to enable them to sustain a prosperous society.” QNV 2030 provided the general framework for the development of successive national development strategies and formed the basis for the Population Policy that aimed to bring about quantitative and qualitative change in population variables and related issues, through a set of operational plans and programmes.
In this vein, H.E. Dr. Saleh bin Mohammed Al-Nabit, President of the Planning and Statistics Authority and Chairman of the Permanent Population Committee, stressed that the Population Policy of the State of Qatar is an ongoing project that is subject to revision and reformulation in view of the rapid changes and the ambitious development plans witnessed by the State.
H.E. pointed out that the fundamental goal of Qatar's Population Policy is to "balance population growth with the requirements of sustainable development so as to ensure a decent life for the people of Qatar, enhance their abilities, broaden their options and raise their participation in the progress and eminence of Qatari society." To this end, a number of axes were adopted, each of which has a main goal or goals that represent the target that the Population Policy aspires to reach by the end of the period specified for its implementation (2030), and sub-goals that contribute to achieving the main goal of each axis.
Thus, Qatar's Population Policy seeks to map out the demographic features of tomorrow’s Qatar in light of an ambitious development agenda for the political developments the world is witnessing. Moreover, it focuses on managing the rapid population growth rates and addressing its repercussions, including the consequences of the demographic imbalance. Perhaps, the most prominent mechanism of this is the gradual but steady trend towards a knowledge-based economy.
