Mauritania participates in Commission on Population and Development Meetings
New York
The fifty-eighth session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development kicked off on Wednesday in New York, with the participation of a delegation from our country headed by its representative to the United Nations, His Excellency Ambassador Sayed Mohamed Al-Aghdaf, accompanied by the Director of the United Nations Department and Non-Governmental Organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Mauritanians Abroad, Mr. Mokhtar Imbaba, the Assistant Director-General for Development Strategies and Policies, Mr. Abderrahmane Dedi, and the Assistant Director of the Department of Accelerated Growth Strategies and Shared Welfare at the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Sidaty Ould Sidaty and the Counselor of our Mission in New York, Mr. Mohamed Ali.
In his speech, HE the Ambassador reviewed the achievements made by Mauritania in improving access to health and social services, and the endeavors and actions taken by the Mauritanian government in line with the recommendations of the International Population and Development Report, where the National Observatory for Safe Motherhood (Observatory) was established which was launched in February 2025 under the auspices of the First Lady, and this observatory will implement the National Map 2025-2030, an ambitious plan aimed at reducing maternal and newborn mortality in the country by nearly 200%.
The cost of the obstetric package for pregnant women has also been reduced by 55%, allowing them to access health services during pregnancy and after childbirth, in addition to implementing a universal health insurance program targeting the most vulnerable, especially women and adolescents.
He added that investment in digital infrastructure was also made with the adoption of DHIS2 (Local Health Information Programme 2) to strengthen the national health information system, and the gradual increase of the health budget from 8% to 15% as recommended by the Abuja Conference.
HE the Ambassador explained that all these achievements fall within the framework of the accelerated growth and shared prosperity strategy (SCAPP 2016–2030), where priority is given to interventions that are favorable to benefit from the demographic dividend, especially increasing investments and efforts in the field of health, education and youth integration with the aim of achieving strong, sustainable and shared growth, and affirming Mauritania‘s commitment to the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development adopted at the Nairobi Summit, with a special focus on achieving sustainable development goals 3, 4, 5 and 8.