Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11
By Sabina Ahmedova - Trend: ISESCO is asking its member states to implement specific programmes to address the differences between cities and villages and to create optimal living conditions in rural areas. This initiative was put forward by the ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri during his speech at the IV ISESCO ministerial conference on children entitled 'Problems of children and urbanisation in the Islamic world', held in Baku on Monday.
According to him, currently more than half the world's population lives in cities. In order to live in better circumstances, people move from rural to urban areas. Therefore, the proportion of the urban population in the world in 2011 reached 52.1 per cent, while in 1950 the figure was 29.4 per cent.
The ISESCO Director General noted that this figure continues to grow and in the member states this process is developing at a faster pace.
According to him, today 47 per cent of the population of the ISESCO member states lives in cities, and half of this figure are children.
"This is a big challenge for children. Problems occur with ensuring their social needs and with education, health and legal issues. Therefore, we should pay attention to this issue. We must provide special programmes and plans to eliminate the differences of lives in the cities and villages. It is necessary to create optimal living conditions for rural residents," he said.