The Omani Studies Centre at Sultan Qaboos University will organize the International Conference titled “Population and Sustainable Development in the Sultanate of Oman” from 14 to 16 of October 2019 at the Conference Hall of the University.
Population issues are closely related to sustainable development; hence, it is one of the seventeen main goals of 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. These Goals have highlighted a number of population issues that require collective international, regional and local efforts which, in turn, requires a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of these issues and their dimensions. Some problems may arise locally, yet they may expand into a global level, such as refugees-related issues, illegal migrations and displacement due to natural disasters. On the other hand, there are other population issues that are of a developmental nature, such as employment opportunities, social and cultural transformations, crime, population growth, population characteristics, population distribution, poverty rates, expats, pressure on services, pollution, urbanization and internal migrations, etc.
These population issues have created a major challenge to both developed and developing countries because of the overlap of the factors that contribute to either the aggravation or the decline of these issues. These factors include the political, economic and social factors. Thus, the policymakers have to work tirelessly to seek solutions to these issues and to look to the future to prevent the emergence of new issues or the aggravation of current ones. The transformations thatare being witnessed by the World due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution require from the planners to take into account the dramatic change in the labour market. This is mainly manifested in the disappearance of many jobs, due to the digital transformation solutions and machine replacement, the emergence of smart cities, cultural and social transformations, the growing ratio of ageing population category, and the increasing aspirations of societies for greater well-being and other issues that require a comprehensive understanding to drawa future roadmap.
The absence of a comprehensive understanding of these issues and the failure to address them properly would lead to dire consequences on both individual and society. Among these consequences are: the threat to stability, the spread of poverty and crime, diseases, the weakness or collapse of basic services, the waste of human resources and the direct and indirect impacts on the national identity. In addition, the threat might extend to the national security. The proper handling of such issues requires a careful examination of population indicators, the analysis of current situation and the planning for future scenarios. Local and regional reports, particularly in the Gulf region, indicate the emergence of some population issues that require to be studied and analyzed.
The idea of organizing this international conference ‘Population and Sustainable Development in the Sultanate of Oman’ is to highlight the issues related to population in the Sultanate of Oman, to be tackled from different perspectives and to provide possible solutions. In addition, the conference will try to present regional experiences, especially from the GCC countries, Arab countries as well as international experiences.
The seven themes of the conference are: (1) The demographic status and the historical transformations in the Sultanate of Oman (the status and the solutions); (2) Population issues in the Sultanate of Oman (Reality, Future, Solutions); (3) The Omani demographic status in the international and regional indicators; (4) Population policies in the Sultanate of Oman and their role in reducing population issues; (5) The future of the Omani demographic status; (6) Regional and global population issues (problems and successful experiences); (7) The role of governmental and non-governmental institutions in raising awareness of population issues.
More details about the conference and abstracts and papers submission are available by contacting the Omani Studies Centre at Sultan Qaboos University via telephone: (00968) 24145851 or Email: oscevent@squ.edu.om