E/2021/25 E/CN.9/2021/6 item 3 and heard statements made by the representatives of Malaysia, the United States of America and Bangladesh, as well as by the observers for the Gambia, Costa Rica, Paraguay and Canada. 18. At the virtual informal meeting of the Commission held on the afternoon of 21 April 2021, chaired by the Vice-Chair (El Salvador), the Commission continued its general discussion on sub-items (a) and (b) under agenda item 3 and heard statements by the representatives of Côte d’Ivoire, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Libya, Belgium, Turkmenistan, Argentina, Japan and Haiti. 19. At the same meeting, statements in the general discussion were also made by the observers for the United Kingdom, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Egypt, Nigeria and Malawi, as well as by the observers for the Holy See and the League of Arab States. 20. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of the following non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council: the International Federation for Family Development, Irene Menakaya School Onitsha, the International Catholic Committee of Nurses and Medico-Social Assistants, the Center for Family and Human Rights, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, the World Youth Alliance and the ACT Alliance – Action by Churches Together. 21. At the virtual informal meeting held on the morning of 22 April 2021, chaired by Vice-Chair Nizar Kaddouh (Lebanon), the Commission continued its general discussion on sub-items (a) and (b) under agenda item 3 and heard a statement made by a representative of the International Organization for Migration. 22. At the same meeting, statements were also made by the representatives of the following non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council: FEMM Foundation; the International Planned Parenthood Federation; Franciscans International; the Centre for Human Rights and Climate Change Research; Haiti Cholera Research Funding Foundation Inc.; Commonwealth Medical Trust; the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Western Hemisphere Region; the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations; the Asian Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women; the Women’s Health and Education Center; and Swasti. 23. Also at the same meeting, the Commission concluded its general discussion on sub-items (a) and (b) under agenda item 3. 1 Virtual informal meeting to hold a panel discussion, followed by an interactive dialogue, under agenda item 4 24. At the same virtual informal meeting held on the morning of 22 April 2021, the Commission held an expert panel on the programme of work in population, which was chaired by the Vice-Chair (Lebanon), who made a statement. 25. The expert panel was moderated by the Director of the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, John Wilmoth, who made a statement. 26. At the same meeting, the following panellists responded to the questions posed by the moderator: the Senior Researcher at the French Institute for Demographic Studies and co-head of its research team on the “Demography of the Global South”, __________________ 1 21-06093 In accordance with the modalities agreed for the fifty-fourth session of the Commission, written statements were received in the general discussion on sub-items (a) and (b) under agenda item 3 from the following Commission members and observers: Romania (member of the Commission) and the Dominican Republic, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Poland, Qatar and Senegal. 31/32