Lawmakers Need to Grapple With the ‘Human Story’ of the Aged, Youth, Women and Girls when Making Policy

Kamikawa Yoko, MP for Japan and Chair of AFPPD at the opening of the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) annual conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Credit: APDAby Cecilia Russell (kuala lumpur & johannesburg, south africa)Thursday, September 10, 2026Inter Press Service KUALA LUMPUR & JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, September 10 (IPS) - “As parliamentarians, we should understand that behind every demographic indicator is a human story,” Kamikawa Yoko, MP Japan and Chair of AFPPD, reminded lawmakers in her opening address to the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) annual conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The conference, with the theme of ‘Parliamentary Leadership for the Future: An All-of-Society Approach to the Care Economy and Demographic Resilience,’ took place in the shadow of the devastating floods in Nepal, which Dr. Toshima Karki, MP Nepal, described as an “alarm from the roof of the world.” The impact of climate change on women, the elderly, and youth underpinned the concerns of many of the parliamentarians over the two-day conference. Alexander Nanta Linggi, Minister of Works, Malaysia, o...