Ministry of Social Affairs presents population status report in Syria 2020

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor and the Syrian Commission for Family and Population on Wednesday presented the population status report in Syria and the world 2020, entitled “Return and stability, Aleppo as a model”, at the Shahba Hotel, Aleppo.

The report dealt with the state of the population of Syria through five chapters that highlight the demographic reality, population dynamics, public health, reproductive health, the economic repercussions of the terrorist war on the state of the population and the social reality, and the future trends of the population in Syria.

Head of the Syrian Commission for Family and Population Affairs, Engineer Samar al-Sibai, noted that the report indicated that the population in Syria for the year 2020 amounted to 22 million and 500 thousand people, and the population of Aleppo reached 4 million and 100 thousand people, with a decline in the population growth rate and the total fertility rate.

He referred to the main characteristics of the labor force, unemployment rates and the effects of the social and economic war, in addition to presenting the willingness of the displaced people to return and settle in Syria. The report also presented recommendations in the areas of demographic, reproductive health, and the challenges that faced population development in Syria before and after the crisis.

Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Louay Emad Eddin Al-Munajjid, stated that Syria has proven its presence in all international forums despite the war through the completion of the population report, which is a message to the world about the steadfastness of its people and the continuation of the work of its institutions despite all circumstances.

Minister Al-Munajjid pointed out that the report corrected many concepts, refuted the numbers circulated globally about Syria and shed light on the effects of the war on the Syrians.

The report noted that Syria has many positive indicators indicating the recovery in the fields of health, education, transportation and the continuation of progress towards the best with available resources. He pointed out that Aleppo model summed up all the war and earthquake disasters that the Syrian lands suffered from, as its people proved their steadfastness in the face of all these challenges.

Governor of Aleppo, Hussein Diab, confirmed that the population report is an important station to focus on the importance of population issues and spread awareness about basic needs to enable individuals and society to make positive change by facing current challenges, improving the level of education, health care, sustainable development, and promoting individual and collective initiatives to achieve a better future.

In her turn, President of the National Union of Syrian Students, Dr. Darren Suleiman, called for explaining the real reasons for the demographic change in Syria, represented in terrorism and the American and Turkish occupation of part of the Syrian lands, and to show the impact of the war on the population issue. She underlined the need to target the youth category to preserve the family and society and prevent the negative effects on them.

Director of Population at the Syrian Commission for Family and Population Affairs, Waddah al-Rakkad, illustrated that the report reviewed population debates about population increase, issues of aging, age support, mortality, equality, and gender justice.

A number of attendees made interventions in which they demanded the creation of a real database and platform that would help the government in making its decisions, reactivating the urban observatory in the Aleppo City Council, working to reduce migration for youth and scientific competencies, providing job opportunities, eliminating unemployment and creating a new statistical system.

Inas Abduklkareem