Nairobi, Kenya: UNFPA together with the China Population and Development Research Centre (CPDRC) and Kenya’s National Council for Population and Development(NCPD) held the first ever China-Africa Conference on Population and Development under the theme “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend in Africa” in Nairobi, Kenya from 18-19April, 2017. The conference brought together researchers and practitioners working on population and development to share knowledge, best practices and lessons on the demographic dividend. UNFPA’s Director for East and Southern Africa region, Dr. Julitta Onabanjo delivered the keynote address of the opening ceremony and used the opportunity to emphasize the need to invest in the health and wellbeing of young people especially the sexual and reproductive health of women.

She highlighted the critical importance of ensuring that policy and decision makers receive timely demographic intelligence. She therefore called on countries to prioritize the conduct of demographic dividend profiles to aide informed decision-making within all African countries. Dr. Onabanjo was supported by the Mr. Richmond Tiemoko, Population Dynamics Policy Advisor, Mr. Babatunde Ahonsi, UNFPA Representative to China as well as by the UNFPA Kenya staff.