International Conference to Highlight Common Solutions for Population Issues

UNITED NATIONS — More than 2,000 population experts from around the world will converge on Marrakech, Morocco, next week for the 26th International Population Conference, organized by the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP). The conference, which is held every four years, is the first to take place in Africa and in an Arab country. The event also coincides with the 15th anniversary of the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development.

The IUSSP conference will include 220 scientific sessions where scholars, researchers, policymakers and other population experts will share the latest in demography and population findings and discuss solutions for a variety of issues of global concern. These include universal access to sexual and reproductive health, internal and international migration, population, the environment and climate linkages, gender and other issues. The conference will also feature more than 700 papers reflecting the latest scientific findings in population and demography.

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, will be represented at the event by a number of its leaders and population experts.

The Fund will be present at the official opening ceremony on 27 September and a UNFPA plenary session, entitled: After Cairo: Issues and Challenges for a New Population and Development Agenda, on 28 September.

UNFPA will also hold two side events on:

• The 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses; 27 September; and,
• New Challenges for Capacity Building in Population and Development; 27 September.

WHEN: 27 September – 2 October 2009

WHERE: Palais des Congrès, Marrakech, Morocco

MEDIA INTERVIEWS: Journalists interested in interviewing UNFPA experts, please contact:
Omar Gharzeddine
Tel. + 1 917 815 7823
gharzeddine@unfpa.org

***

More information about the IUSSP conference, including lists of participants and sessions, is available at www.iussp.org/marrakech2009/index.php

Information about press accreditation is available at:
http://www.iussp.org/marrakech2009/press.php