HSRC Strategic Lead, Dr Nompumelelo Zungu was invited by the Department of Social Development to join the South African delegation at the Commission on Population Development’s 59th Session in New York at the UN headquarters from the 13th to the 17th of April. The delegation is led by the Deputy Minister of the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Steve Letsike.
Dr Zungu spearheaded the First South African National Gender-Based Violence Study, a first of its kind in the country, the findings of which is being taken very seriously by government and civil society. This pivotal study provides insights into GBV prevalence, risk factors, and impacts across South Africa, forming a foundation for targeted solutions. As a direct result of this groundbreaking work, Dr Zungu was invited to represent the HSRC at the Commission. Amongst other work within the public health realm, Dr Zungu is also on the South African National HIV Prevalence, Incidence, and Behaviour Survey (SABSSM) team. SABSSM a population-based household survey – a flagship HSRC project for more than twenty years.
Image courtesy of UNFPA
The Population Commission was established by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 3 (III) of 3 October 1946. In its resolution 49/128 of 19 December 1994, the General Assembly decided that the Commission should be renamed the Commission on Population and Development. In the same resolution, the Assembly decided that it, the Council and the Commission should constitute a three-tiered intergovernmental mechanism that would play the primary role in the follow-up to the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, and that the Commission, as a functional commission assisting the Council, would monitor, review and assess the implementation of the Programme of Action at the national, regional and international levels and advise the Council thereon.
Under its terms of reference the Commission is to assist the Council by:
1. Arranging for studies and advising the Council on:
- Population issues and trends;
- Integrating population and development strategies;
- Population and related development policies and programmes;
- Provision of population assistance, upon request, to developing countries and, on a temporary basis, to countries with economies in transition; and
- Any other population and development questions on which either the principal or the subsidiary organs of the United Nations or the specialized agencies may seek advice.
2. Monitoring, reviewing and assessing the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development at the national, regional and global levels, identifying reasons for success and failure, and advising the Council thereon;
3. Providing appropriate recommendations to the Council on the basis of an integrated consideration of the reports and issues related to the implementation of the Programme of Action.
The Commission is composed of 47 Member States elected by the Economic and Social Council for a period of four years on the basis of geographic distribution. Representatives should have a relevant background in population and development.
Commission on Population and Development, fifty-ninth session (2026) | Population Division
It is a great honour to have HSRC represented at this globally important event to provide strategic guidance on population and related development policies and programmes.
