Asian Population Association

APA Progress Report, June 2008

I am delighted to update you on the ?birth?, ?growth?, and ?development? of our new-born association, Asian Population Association (APA). The second meeting of the Establishment Committee of the APA was held during 1-2 June in Bangkok. Here is a summary of the discussions.

1. The APA has been registered by the Thai Government in April 2008, and the Association has a legal status.? Our new born association also has a home at the College of Population Studies of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

2. Professor Peter McDonald, Vice President of the IUSSP congratulated the establishment of the APA and expressed the continuing support of the IUSSP for the APA as well as other regional population associations.

3. The online applications for membership were reviewed and approved by the EC during the meeting. The association has a young age structure with 50 percent of the registered members being less than 40 years of age. However, the sex ratio is very high with women being only 18% percent of the members.? Experts from variety of countries within and outside Asian region applied for membership. The list of registered members is very impressive, with many distinguished scholars on the list. We also have a category for non-voting student members and this is attracting a lot of attention in some countries. This is truly encouraging for our newly established association. Around 400 population experts have registered as members as of June 4.

4. The First Election: Professor Gavin Jones reported the result of the Nomination Committee discussions about nominees for the first election of the APA which is scheduled for September-October 2008. The Executive Secretary will plan for the first election of the association. All regular members will be notified of the procedure of the election as well as the list of nominees in due course.

5. A one day workshop on The 2010 Census Round in Asia: National Challenges and Regional Collaborations was held on 3 June 2008. This was the first scientific activity of the APA. Around 30 population and census experts from 13 Asian countries shared their experiences and made suggestions for the improvement of census data in 2010.? Professor Terry Hull was the organizer of the workshop. Funds for the meeting were received from the Ford and MacArthur foundations as well as the UNFPA Asia Division.

6. The First Asian Population Association Conference. The establishment committee discussed the theme, place and date of the conference. A Preparatory Committee including all members of the EC was formed to plan for the conference until the new council begins its activities. Professor Mehtab Karim was appointed Chair of the Conference Preparatory Committee.? He will report progress to the first Council meeting early in 2009.? The APA will also have a session on Asian demography at the next IUSSP conference in Marrakech.

7. The new-born APA should be nurtured by all of us. The association needs love, passion, enthusiasm, advice, and support. It can bring all the ?Asian Demographic Family? together to enjoy discussions about regional population issues, to learn from other colleagues; and most importantly to improve our professional discipline.? Please join the APA if you have not already done so, and invite professional colleagues to join the APA too. Please follow the instructions below to join the APA:

a) Visit the APA website at: http://www.apa.cps.chula.ac.th

It should be noted that foundation members will NOT be charged any fee for the first year of membership (2008).? All members registered by 31 July 2008 will be deemed to be Foundation Members eligible to vote in the elections for the APA Council.

We look forward to your active participation in activities of the APA.
Best wishes,
Jalal Abbasi
Chair, Establishment Committee of the APA

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