This document discusses 7 opportunities for addressing challenges in a world of 7 billion people:
1. Reducing poverty and inequality can slow population growth.
2. Empowering women and girls through education and access to healthcare and opportunities can accelerate progress on development.
3. Young people, who are innovative and open to new technologies, can transform global politics and culture if given the chance.
4. Ensuring every child is wanted and every birth is safe can lead to smaller, stronger families.
5. Protecting the environment is essential as the well-being of all people depends on a healthy planet.
6. Promoting the health and productivity of older people can help address challenges of
The State of the World's Children: Children with DisabilitiesUNICEF Publications
The State of the World’s Children 2013: Children with Disabilities examines the barriers – from inaccessible buildings to dismissive attitudes, from invisibility in official statistics to vicious discrimination – that deprive children with disabilities of their rights and keep them from participating fully in society. The report also lays out some of the key elements of inclusive societies that respect and protect the rights of all children, regardless of disability, and progress in helping all children to flourish and make their contribution to the world.
Substantial progress has been made towards achieving MDG Goal on Reducing Child Mortality but still insufficient – The new UN-World Bank child mortality estimates
New child mortality estimates (childmortality.org) show that substantial progress has been made towards achieving the fourth Millennium Development Goal. The estimates were released today by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, which includes UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank and United Nations Population Division.
The State of the World’s Children 2011: Adolescence – An Age of Opportunity examines the global state of adolescents; outlines the challenges they face in health, education, protection and participation; and explores the risks and vulnerabilities of this pivotal stage. The report highlights the singular opportunities that adolescence offers, both for adolescents themselves and for the societies they live in. The accumulated evidence demonstrates that investing in adolescents' second decade is our best hope of breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty and inequity and of laying the foundation for a more peaceful, tolerant and equitable world.
The State of the World's Children: Children with DisabilitiesUNICEF Publications
The State of the World’s Children 2013: Children with Disabilities examines the barriers – from inaccessible buildings to dismissive attitudes, from invisibility in official statistics to vicious discrimination – that deprive children with disabilities of their rights and keep them from participating fully in society. The report also lays out some of the key elements of inclusive societies that respect and protect the rights of all children, regardless of disability, and progress in helping all children to flourish and make their contribution to the world.
Substantial progress has been made towards achieving MDG Goal on Reducing Child Mortality but still insufficient – The new UN-World Bank child mortality estimates
New child mortality estimates (childmortality.org) show that substantial progress has been made towards achieving the fourth Millennium Development Goal. The estimates were released today by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, which includes UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank and United Nations Population Division.
The State of the World’s Children 2011: Adolescence – An Age of Opportunity examines the global state of adolescents; outlines the challenges they face in health, education, protection and participation; and explores the risks and vulnerabilities of this pivotal stage. The report highlights the singular opportunities that adolescence offers, both for adolescents themselves and for the societies they live in. The accumulated evidence demonstrates that investing in adolescents' second decade is our best hope of breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty and inequity and of laying the foundation for a more peaceful, tolerant and equitable world.
State of the World's Children 2012 - Children in an Urban WorldUNICEF Publications
This report anticipates the rapidly approaching day when the majority of the world’s children will grow up in urban areas. It observes that many of these places are marked by pronounced inequality in power and resources that in turn lead to disparity in children’s survival and development.
The report adds to the growing base of evidence and analysis of inequity and the need for strategies to reach excluded children and families wherever they live. It builds on work, by UNICEF and many partners, to show that the children who are most deprived, vulnerable and difficult to reach are to be found not only in remote rural parts but also in the very urban centres that are home to commercial, political and cultural elites.
Every Child's Birth Right: Inequities & Trends in Birth RegistrationUNICEF Publications
Birth registration is a critical first step towards protecting children throughout their lives. Nearly 230 million children under the age of five in the world have not had their births registered.
The report presents latest available data and estimates on birth registration in 161 countries. It highlights global and regional trends and examines inequities in prevalence according to social, economic, demographic and other characteristics. It describes programmatic and advocacy efforts undertaken by UNICEF and its partners.
Ecco lo studio di Ipsos Mori "Global Trends 2014". Uno studio sulle tendenze attuali in tema di comportamenti e preferenze dei cittadini e dei consumatori, ma anche un tentativo di capire cosa accadrà in futuro. 16mila interviste, 20 paesi in tutto il mondo. Brand, salute e benessere, società, attivismo politico, comportamenti dei consumatori, annunci pubblicitari e advertising e molto altro.
New data reveals population anxieties are widespread and governments are increasingly adopting policies aimed at raising, lowering or maintaining fertility rates. But efforts to influence fertility rates are very often ineffective and can erode women’s rights, according to UNFPA's State of World Population report, released today.
The landmark report “8 Billion Lives, Infinite Possibilities: the case for rights and choices” calls for a radical rethink of how population numbers are framed – urging politicians and media to abandon overblown narratives about population booms and busts. Instead of asking how fast people are reproducing, leaders should ask whether individuals, especially women, are able to freely make their own reproductive choices – a question whose answer, too often, is no.
“Women’s bodies should not be held captive to population targets,” says UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. “To build thriving and inclusive societies, regardless of population size, we must radically rethink how we talk about and plan for population change.”
A staggering 44 per cent of partnered women and girls in 68 reporting countries do not have the right to make informed decisions about their bodies when it comes to having sex, using contraception and seeking health care; and an estimated 257 million women worldwide have an unmet need for safe, reliable contraception.
History has shown that fertility policies designed to increase or lower birth rates are very often ineffective and can undermine women’s rights. Many countries have rolled out programmes to engineer larger families by offering financial incentives and rewards to women and their partners, yet they continue to see birth rates below two children per woman. And efforts to slow population growth through forced sterilization and coercive contraception have grossly violated human rights.
Family planning must not be used as a tool for achieving fertility targets; it is a tool for empowering individuals. Women should be able to choose if, when and how many children they would like to have, free from the coercion of pundits and officials.
The report strongly recommends governments institute policies with gender equality and rights at their heart, such as parental leave programmes, child tax credits, policies that promote gender equality in the workplace, and universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. These offer a proven formula that will reap economic dividends and lead to resilient societies able to thrive no matter how populations change.
Key Facts and Figures from the 2023 State of World Population:
Twenty-four per cent of partnered women and girls are unable to say no to sex and 11 per cent are unable to make decisions specifically about contraception, according to data from 68 reporting countries. A survey of eight countries showed people who had been exposed to media or conversations about the world’s population were more likely to view the global population as b
Main challenges to achieving Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015José Ferreiro
The report emphasizes that coherent economic and social policies as well as targeted programmes are needed to achieve MDG objectives and refers to good practices in a number of UNECE countries, including Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Serbia, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey and Ukraine.
The report also highlights a number of human development challenges which are specific to countries with transition economies. They include rising inequalities, setbacks in social protection, comparatively low male life expectancy and unprecedented migration flows. Moreover, the newly independent States emerging from the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia have encountered additional problems of nation-building and for many of them this has been accompanied by regional tensions or large-scale conflicts, affecting deeply the human capital and cohesiveness of their societies. A characteristic of the Eastern part of the pan-European region is the discrepancy between the seriousness of these problems and the governance capacity to address them. Pursuing actively institutional reforms according to the principles of a participatory political and social system, and a market economy therefore constitutes an overall challenge for most of these countries.
The material intends to promote the visibility and the activities carried on by the United Nations.
Le matériel vise à promouvoir la visibilité et les activités menées par l’Organisation des Nations Unies.
Материал намерена содействовать распространению информации и деятельности, осуществляемой Организацией Объединенных Наций.
Please visit: / Пожалуйста, посетите: / Visitez:
http://www.unece.org/ or http://www.un.org
On 25 September on 25 September2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development as the agreed framework for international development.
It is the successor to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)....UN Women Communications and Advocacy Section in New York conducted an analysis of what
the 17 SDGs adopted mean to women in order to inform strategic interventions building on
the e orts of localization at country and regional levels....The publication showcases how women are affected by each of the 17 proposed SDGs, as well as
how women and girls can — and will — be key to achieving each of these goals. Data and stories
of the impact of each SDG on women and girls is illustrated. UN Women Eastern and Southern
Africa region’s efforts and interventions as they relate to SDGs are also discussed under each
SDG, including our programmes, intergovernmental work and advocacy for policy change....
This final report of the Rapid Impact and Vulnerability Analysis Fund (RIVAF) aggregates the summary findings from a series of studies and research projects, which were undertaken by eleven UN agencies, between 2010 and 2011. The topics represented in these eight research projects, which involve the work of eleven United Nations Agencies, present a unique view of how the global economic crisis has affected a variety of different sectors across the globe. More infO: http://www.unglobalpulse.org/projects/rapid-impact-and-vulnerability-analysis-fund-rivaf
International Child Protection Consultant
Child Protection Safety Net Project
Albania
Capitalization of Work: Learning from Experience
March 2013
N. Beth Bradford, MA
State of the World's Children 2012 - Children in an Urban WorldUNICEF Publications
This report anticipates the rapidly approaching day when the majority of the world’s children will grow up in urban areas. It observes that many of these places are marked by pronounced inequality in power and resources that in turn lead to disparity in children’s survival and development.
The report adds to the growing base of evidence and analysis of inequity and the need for strategies to reach excluded children and families wherever they live. It builds on work, by UNICEF and many partners, to show that the children who are most deprived, vulnerable and difficult to reach are to be found not only in remote rural parts but also in the very urban centres that are home to commercial, political and cultural elites.
Every Child's Birth Right: Inequities & Trends in Birth RegistrationUNICEF Publications
Birth registration is a critical first step towards protecting children throughout their lives. Nearly 230 million children under the age of five in the world have not had their births registered.
The report presents latest available data and estimates on birth registration in 161 countries. It highlights global and regional trends and examines inequities in prevalence according to social, economic, demographic and other characteristics. It describes programmatic and advocacy efforts undertaken by UNICEF and its partners.
Ecco lo studio di Ipsos Mori "Global Trends 2014". Uno studio sulle tendenze attuali in tema di comportamenti e preferenze dei cittadini e dei consumatori, ma anche un tentativo di capire cosa accadrà in futuro. 16mila interviste, 20 paesi in tutto il mondo. Brand, salute e benessere, società, attivismo politico, comportamenti dei consumatori, annunci pubblicitari e advertising e molto altro.
New data reveals population anxieties are widespread and governments are increasingly adopting policies aimed at raising, lowering or maintaining fertility rates. But efforts to influence fertility rates are very often ineffective and can erode women’s rights, according to UNFPA's State of World Population report, released today.
The landmark report “8 Billion Lives, Infinite Possibilities: the case for rights and choices” calls for a radical rethink of how population numbers are framed – urging politicians and media to abandon overblown narratives about population booms and busts. Instead of asking how fast people are reproducing, leaders should ask whether individuals, especially women, are able to freely make their own reproductive choices – a question whose answer, too often, is no.
“Women’s bodies should not be held captive to population targets,” says UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. “To build thriving and inclusive societies, regardless of population size, we must radically rethink how we talk about and plan for population change.”
A staggering 44 per cent of partnered women and girls in 68 reporting countries do not have the right to make informed decisions about their bodies when it comes to having sex, using contraception and seeking health care; and an estimated 257 million women worldwide have an unmet need for safe, reliable contraception.
History has shown that fertility policies designed to increase or lower birth rates are very often ineffective and can undermine women’s rights. Many countries have rolled out programmes to engineer larger families by offering financial incentives and rewards to women and their partners, yet they continue to see birth rates below two children per woman. And efforts to slow population growth through forced sterilization and coercive contraception have grossly violated human rights.
Family planning must not be used as a tool for achieving fertility targets; it is a tool for empowering individuals. Women should be able to choose if, when and how many children they would like to have, free from the coercion of pundits and officials.
The report strongly recommends governments institute policies with gender equality and rights at their heart, such as parental leave programmes, child tax credits, policies that promote gender equality in the workplace, and universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights. These offer a proven formula that will reap economic dividends and lead to resilient societies able to thrive no matter how populations change.
Key Facts and Figures from the 2023 State of World Population:
Twenty-four per cent of partnered women and girls are unable to say no to sex and 11 per cent are unable to make decisions specifically about contraception, according to data from 68 reporting countries. A survey of eight countries showed people who had been exposed to media or conversations about the world’s population were more likely to view the global population as b
Main challenges to achieving Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015José Ferreiro
The report emphasizes that coherent economic and social policies as well as targeted programmes are needed to achieve MDG objectives and refers to good practices in a number of UNECE countries, including Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Serbia, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey and Ukraine.
The report also highlights a number of human development challenges which are specific to countries with transition economies. They include rising inequalities, setbacks in social protection, comparatively low male life expectancy and unprecedented migration flows. Moreover, the newly independent States emerging from the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia have encountered additional problems of nation-building and for many of them this has been accompanied by regional tensions or large-scale conflicts, affecting deeply the human capital and cohesiveness of their societies. A characteristic of the Eastern part of the pan-European region is the discrepancy between the seriousness of these problems and the governance capacity to address them. Pursuing actively institutional reforms according to the principles of a participatory political and social system, and a market economy therefore constitutes an overall challenge for most of these countries.
The material intends to promote the visibility and the activities carried on by the United Nations.
Le matériel vise à promouvoir la visibilité et les activités menées par l’Organisation des Nations Unies.
Материал намерена содействовать распространению информации и деятельности, осуществляемой Организацией Объединенных Наций.
Please visit: / Пожалуйста, посетите: / Visitez:
http://www.unece.org/ or http://www.un.org
On 25 September on 25 September2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development as the agreed framework for international development.
It is the successor to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)....UN Women Communications and Advocacy Section in New York conducted an analysis of what
the 17 SDGs adopted mean to women in order to inform strategic interventions building on
the e orts of localization at country and regional levels....The publication showcases how women are affected by each of the 17 proposed SDGs, as well as
how women and girls can — and will — be key to achieving each of these goals. Data and stories
of the impact of each SDG on women and girls is illustrated. UN Women Eastern and Southern
Africa region’s efforts and interventions as they relate to SDGs are also discussed under each
SDG, including our programmes, intergovernmental work and advocacy for policy change....
This final report of the Rapid Impact and Vulnerability Analysis Fund (RIVAF) aggregates the summary findings from a series of studies and research projects, which were undertaken by eleven UN agencies, between 2010 and 2011. The topics represented in these eight research projects, which involve the work of eleven United Nations Agencies, present a unique view of how the global economic crisis has affected a variety of different sectors across the globe. More infO: http://www.unglobalpulse.org/projects/rapid-impact-and-vulnerability-analysis-fund-rivaf
International Child Protection Consultant
Child Protection Safety Net Project
Albania
Capitalization of Work: Learning from Experience
March 2013
N. Beth Bradford, MA
The brochure is a welcome example of how the United Nations system and the young people it serves are growing together. By taking stock of UN system activities related to youth development, the brochure provides a chance to assess how effectively the United Nations system is responding to this important development challenge, and it helps to identify any gaps that may exist in our approach.
In 2012, UNICEF delivered results for children through collaborative relationships with
a broad range of partners, including governments, the multilateral system, civil society
organizations, the private sector and global programme partners.
La croissance prévue de la population infantile en Afrique nécessitera une augmentation de plus de 11 millions de personnels qualifiés en éducation et en santé au cours de la prochaine décennie, pour pouvoir accompagner la transition démographique sans précédent du continent, selon l'UNICEF.
Vu sur: https://www.unicef.fr/contenu/espace-medias/generation-2030-rapport-sur-la-croissance-demographique-en-afrique
Co-author.
This Framework responds to the demands of country leaders, partners, and
youth organizations worldwide, for the Bank to generate new ‘evidence-based’ knowledge for the benefit of children
and youth—especially in the areas of economic and social benefits, costs, and the impact of investment—and to shape
subsequent policy responses across the development spectrum. Through wide consultation at country, regional and
global levels, the Framework also reflects the broad priorities identified by young people from every continent.
The Framework reflects years of operational experience by the World Bank and its partners in helping improve the
lives of young people through the more traditional means of Education, Health, Social Protection, and overall poverty
reduction. This accumulated body of evidence allows us to know what works, and how best to scale up these interventions.
However, it also highlights our gaps in knowledge and resources, and where we need a more integrated and
cross-sectoral approach to develop policies and interventions that can make a difference in tackling the development
issues facing children and youth today that have, thus far, proven hardest to solve.
Can the MDGs provide a pathway to social justice? The challenge of intersecti...MDG Fund
By: Naila Kabeer
The starting point for this report is that inequalities matter for the achievement of the MDGs. Inequalities matter at the macroeconomic level because they slow down the pace at which a given rate of growth translates into poverty reduction. They also matter for society at large because they generate high levels of social tensions, crime and conflict, with adverse effects for human wellbeing and progress.
Similar to State of the World Population Report, 2011 (20)
The State of the World Population Report is an annual flagship publication of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). The 2013 edition examines the plight of adolescents on the issue of pregnancy.
4. Foreword
Seven billion people will inhabit the earth on 31 October. During my lifetime,
I have seen world population nearly triple. And 13 years from now, I will see
another billion added to our numbers. In my grandchildren’s lifetimes, there could
be as many as 10 billion people in our world.
How did we become so many? How large a communities to make the most of our world
number can our Earth sustain? of 7 billion.
These are important questions, but per- Some of the trends are remarkable: Today,
haps not the right ones for our times. When there are 893 million people over the age of
we look only at the big number, we risk being 60 worldwide. By the middle of this century
overwhelmed and losing sight of new opportu- that number will rise to 2.4 billion. About one
nities to make life better for everyone in in two people lives in a city, and in only about
the future. 35 years, two out of three will. People under
So instead of asking questions like, “Are the age of 25 already make up 43 per cent of
we too many?” we should instead be asking, the world’s population, reaching as much as
“What can I do to make our world better?” 60 per cent in some countries.
or, “What can we do to transform our grow- This report provides a snapshot of how
ing cities into forces for sustainability?” We China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, India,
should also ask ourselves what each of us Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, and the former
can do to empower the elderly so they can Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are facing
play a more active role in their communities. diverse demographic challenges, ranging from
What can we do to unleash the creativity and ageing populations to high fertility rates, and
potential of the largest youth cohort human- from urbanization to the emergence of new
ity has ever seen? And what can we do to generations of young people. Some of these
remove barriers to equality between women countries are coping with high fertility rates
and men so that everyone has the full power and others are facing rates so low that govern-
to make their own decisions and realize their ments are already looking for ways to increase
full potential? population size. Some countries with labour
The State of World Population 2011 shortages are looking to migrants to fill jobs,
looks at the trends—the dynamics—that are while others are relying on the remittances sent
defining our world of 7 billion and shows back home by citizens working overseas to buoy
what people in vastly different countries their economies. And while some countries are
and circumstances are doing in their own attracting more people to emerging mega-cities
ii FORE WORD
8. family members behind, sometimes without These trends are sometimes obscured in
the support they need to carry out their daily discussions about population size, yet it is
lives. In some of the richer countries, smaller only when scrutinizing them that many of
numbers of young people mean uncertainty the immediate challenges and opportunities
about who will care for the old in future years become apparent.
and pay for the benefits seniors enjoy. China’s Shaanxi province, for example, is
Each of the countries featured in the looking for ways to shelter and support grow-
report is seeing in their specific popula- ing numbers of older people. In a mega-city
tion trends, such as urbanization, longer life such as Lagos, Nigeria, planners are trying to
expectancies and rapidly expanding working- redevelop neighbourhoods and create more
age populations, not only big challenges but cohesive, manageable and livable communities.
also enormous opportunities to seize these In Mexico City, people-friendly parks, roadside
804
moments and turn them into good news. green spaces and more public transportation
Years when world population reached increments of 1 billion
10 Billion
The rapid growth of the world population is a recent phenomenon. About 2,000 years
ago, the population of the world was about 300 million. It took more than 1,600 years for
9 Billion
the world population to double to 600 million. The rapid growth of the world population
started in 1950, with reductions in mortality in the less developed regions, resulting in an
8 Billion
estimated population of 6.1 billion in the year 2000, nearly two-and-a-half times the popu-
7 Billion lation in 1950. With the declines in fertility in most of the world, the global growth rate of
population has been decreasing since its peak of 2.0 per cent in 1965-1970.
6 Billion
Source: Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
5 Billion
4 Billion
3
3 Billion 2 1959
1
1927
2 Billion
1804
1 Billion
YEARS TO ADD 1 BILLION PEOPLE 123 32 15
1800 1850 1900 1950
2 CHAP T ER 1 : a closer loo k at our world of 7 billion
9. are priorities in the quest to make urban life Governments can usher in urban growth
healthier and more sustainable. that boosts economies and creates jobs while
Nations like the former Yugoslav using energy more efficiently and making
Republic of Macedonia and Finland, where social services available to more people.
fertility is lower and childbearing later than People under 25 make up 43 per cent of
in most other parts of the world, are look- the world’s population. When young people
ing for ways to support women who have can claim their rights to health, education and
more children. Nations like Ethiopia and decent working conditions, they become a
India have launched campaigns to end child powerful force for economic development
marriages and prevent life-threatening and positive change. Throughout the
adolescent pregnancies. developing world, social scientists and
Cities are growing almost everywhere. policymakers want to make the most of
With good planning and thoughtful policies, large youthful populations, for the sake of
hopeful young people themselves as well
as in the interests of economic growth and
development. Yet this opportunity of a
“demographic dividend” is a fleeting moment
that must be claimed quickly or lost.
In the poorest countries, extreme pov-
erty, food insecurity, inequality, high death
rates and high birth rates are linked in a
7 vicious cycle. Reducing poverty by invest-
ing in health and education, especially for
6
2011 women and girls, can break this cycle. As liv-
ing conditions improve, parents can feel more
5 1999 confident that most of their children will
survive. Many then choose to have smaller
4
1974
1987 families. This allows for greater investment
in each child’s health care and education,
improved productivity and better long-term
prospects—for the family and for the country.
Celebrating achievements,
planning for the future
There is much to celebrate in world popula-
tion trends over the last 60 years, especially
the average life expectancy, which leapt from
about 48 years in the early 1950s to about
13 12 12
68 in the first decade of the new century.
Infant mortality plunged from about 133
2000 2050
T H E STAT E OF WORL D POPU L AT ION 20 1 1 3
10. deaths in 1,000 births in the 1950s to 46 fertility rate was about 6.7 children, while 61
per 1,000 in the period from 2005 to 2010. years later it dropped to 2.6, a half percent-
Immunization campaigns reduced the preva- age point above the population “replacement
lence of childhood diseases worldwide. level” of 2.1 children, one of them a girl. In
In addition, fertility, the number of chil- East Asia the total fertility rate in 1950 was
dren a woman is expected to have in her about 6 children per woman and today is
reproductive years, dropped by more than 1.6, well below replacement level. In some
half, from about 6.0 to 2.5, partly because of parts of Africa, however, there has been only
countries’ economic growth and development a modest drop in total fertility, which today
but also because of a complex mix of social remains at more than 5 children per woman.
and cultural forces and greater access by But despite global fertility declines, about
women to education, income-earning oppor- 80 million people are added to the world
tunities and sexual and reproductive health each year, a number roughly equivalent to
services, including modern methods the population of Germany or Ethiopia.
of contraception. Considerable population growth continues
In some regions, the total fertility rate today because of the high numbers of births
declined drastically between 1950 and today. in the 1950s and 1960s, which have resulted
In Central America, for example, the total in larger base populations with millions of
young people reaching their reproductive
years over succeeding generations.
China and India: the billionaires The Population Division of the United
China and India recently released the findings of their latest censuses, Nations Department of Economic and Social
giving the world a glimpse of how these two population behemoths are Affairs, in its World Population Prospects: The
realigning in numbers and rates of growth. Below are the two countries 2010 Revision (published in May 2011) fore-
in numbers, using official figures or United Nations projections.
sees a global population of 9.3 billion people
According to projections by the Population Division of the United
at 2050, an increase over earlier estimates,
Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in 2025, India, with
1.46 billion people, will have overtaken China, with 1.39 billion, as the and more than 10 billion by the end of this
world’s most populous nation. China’s population will then, based on a century—and that scenario assumes lower
medium variant, decline to about 1.3 billion by 2050. India will continue to fertility rates over time. With only a small
grow to about 1.7 billion by 2060 before beginning to decline.
variation in fertility, particularly in the more
populous countries, the total could be higher:
China India
10.6 billion people could be living on Earth
Total population, 2011 1.35 billion 1.24 billion by 2050 and more than 15 billion in 2100,
the Population Division estimates. “Much
Increase 2001–2011 69.7 million 170.1 million
of this increase is expected to come from the
Fertility rate 1.6 2.5 high-fertility countries, which comprise 39 in
Africa, nine in Asia, six in Oceania and four in
Year population likely to stabilize 2025 2060 Latin America,” the United Nations reports.
Source: Population Division of the United Nations Department of
According to John Cleland of the London
Economic and Social Affairs. School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,
4 CHAP T ER 1 : a closer loo k at our world of 7 billion
11. an international expert on reproductive “Clearly we are living through an extraor-
issues in Africa, sub-Saharan Africa is “the dinary period in human history, an era of
one remaining region of the world where unprecedented growth in our species,” says
the population is set to double or treble in Steven Sinding, who has observed popula-
the next 40 years.” The reason for demog tion trends over the years as director of the
raphers’ increasing focus on the region is office of population at the United States
clear, he said: “The escape from poverty Agency for International Development,
and hunger is made more difficult by rapid professor of population and family health
population growth.” at Columbia University and director-general
Estimated and projected population by major area,
medium variant, 1950-2100 (billions)
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
billions
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 2090 2100
Asia Africa Latin America and the Caribbean Europe Northern America Oceania
Asia will remain the most populous expected to add another billion in just and Oceania) amount to 1.7 billion in 2011
major area in the world during the 21st 35 years (by 2044), even as its fertil- and are projected to rise to nearly 2 bil-
century but Africa will gain ground as ity drops from 4.6 children per woman in lion in 2060 and then decline very slowly,
its population more than triples, passing 2005-2010 to 3.0 children per woman in remaining still near 2 billion by the turn
from 1 billion in 2011 to 3.6 billion in 2100. 2040-2045. of the century. Among the regions, the
In 2011, 60 per cent of the world pop- Asia's population, which is currently population of Europe is projected to peak
ulation lived in Asia and 15 per cent in 4.2 billion, is expected to peak around the around 2025 at 0.74 billion and decline
Africa. Africa’s population has been grow- middle of the century (it is projected to thereafter.
ing 2.3 per cent per year, a rate more than reach 5.2 billion in 2052) and to start a
double that of Asia's population (1 per slow decline thereafter. Source: Population Division of the
cent per year). The population of Africa The populations of all other major United Nations Department of Economic
first surpassed a billion in 2009 and is areas combined (the Americas, Europe and Social Affairs.
T HE STAT E OF WORL D POPU L AT ION 20 1 1 5
20. Olalekan Azeez-Iginla, Lagos state coor- have not had significant input into policy-
dinator of the National Youth Network on making and governance. He keeps a directory
HIV-AIDS, Population and Development, of qualified youth who “want to help plan
is already working on the employment issue. the future they will be part of.” His goal is to
He says that until recently, young people ask the governor of Lagos, a state as well as a
city, to find or create jobs for up to a million
qualified young people.
Youth labour force participation
rate, by region and sex, 2010 Many young people having
smaller families
Labour force participation rates for young women are lower than for
Today’s young women and men—a large
young men in all regions except East Asia, mainly reflecting differing
number of them still adolescents in least
cultural traditions and the lack of opportunities for women to com-
bine work and family responsibilities not only in the developing world developed countries—are demanding better
but also in the industrialized world. In many regions, gender gaps in education, good health care and ultimately
youth participation rates have narrowed over the past decade, but jobs to support themselves and their fami-
they remain large in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. In
lies. In many countries of the global North,
the latter region, the female participation rate decreased faster than
young women and men are marrying later
the male rate, actually increasing the gender gap.
and having fewer children, and the same
trend is emerging, if slowly, in many devel-
Total % Male % Female %
oping nations. The trend is linked not only
World 50.9 58.9 42.4
to improved education and jobs, but also
Developed Economies 50.2 52.6 47.7 to unfettered access to reproductive health,
and European Union including contraceptives.
Central and South- 41.7 47.7 35.5 In Ethiopia, a low-income country with
Eastern Europe 39 per cent of its 82.9 million people liv-
(non-European Union) ing below the international poverty line of
and the CIS
$1.25 a day, according to the World Bank,
East Asia 59.2 57.0 61.6 hardship rather than rising expectations and
South-East Asia and the 51.3 59.1 43.3 better living standards may be the major fac-
Pacific tor in motivating young women and men
South Asia 46.5 64.3 27.3
in cities when family choices are made.
Assefa Hailemariam, the former director of
Latin America and the 52.1 61.3 42.7
the Population Studies and Research Centre
Caribbean
at Addis Ababa University’s Institute of
Middle East 36.3 50.3 21.5
Development Studies, said that young urban-
North Africa 37.9 52.5 22.9 ites are bringing fertility rates down very fast
Sub-Saharan Africa 57.5 62.7 52.2
for economic reasons.
“Urban life is demanding,” Hailemariam
said. “You can’t count on relatives to look
Source: Global Employment Trends for Youth. International Labour Organization after your kids. You can’t have too many—
14 CHAP T ER 2 : Youth : A New Global P ower Reshaping the World
23. child health and reducing HIV and AIDS,” In Mozambique, the balance of power in a
the Population Reference Bureau survey relationship in favour of the man is tipped even
says. It adds that because young girls are further by early marriage, which also chips away
often married to older men who may have at a young woman’s right to determine her own
had numerous sexual partners, their chances reproductive destiny and often resulting in early
of HIV infection are greater than those of and numerous pregnancies. A young woman’s
unmarried sexually active girls. decision-making power may be additionally
Forcing a child into marriage for any rea- diluted in polygamous settings, in which about
son is a violation of the Convention on the one in four Mozambican women is involved.
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination According to a study by Mozambique’s
Against Women and the Convention on National Statistics Institute, more than half
the Rights of the Child. Gender inequal- of women between ages 20 and 49 say they
ity is an underlying cause of child marriage, were married before the age of 18, and about
says UNFPA gender expert Gayle Nelson. one in five say they married before age 15.
“And without addressing this issue, it will be In Mozambique as in many other countries,
impossible to eradicate this or other discrimi- early marriage is more common among girls
natory harmful practices.” with little or no formal education.
Countries with high adolescent birth rates are concentrated in
sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean
100+
50 < 100
20 < 50
<20
No data since 2000
Adolescent birth rates by country, most recent estimates The designations employed do not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of
(Number of births per 1,000 women aged 15-19) UNFPA concerning the legal status of any country, territory, area or its authorities, or
the delimitation of frontiers or boundaries. The dotted line represents approximately
Source: Population Division of the United Nations Department of the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan. The
Economic and Social Affairs. final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been agreed upon by the parties.
T HE STAT E OF WORL D POPU L AT ION 20 1 1 17
25. There is no youth centre where Amsalu in giving young people a role and a stake in
Buke, the peripatetic Ethiopian health worker, national programmes that matter to every-
makes her rounds near Debre Tseige, south- one, regardless of age.
east of the capital. But her cheerful, youthful In some primary care health posts, Fisseha
presence makes her approachable to young said, solar-powered DVD players are installed,
women with questions about reproductive with videos on various health, nutrition and
health as well as older women seeking contra- lifestyle issues. “The DVDs are meant to be
ceptives or anyone who needs something to kept on when patients come,” he said. “The
cure a stomach upset, diarrhea or a headache. community owns the system, and civil society
She vaccinates village people, keeping track has the privilege of using it.” A DVD player
meticulously on her home-made wall chart of has not yet come to her health post
every inoculation given to prevent meningitis, in Debre Tseige, but Amsalu has placed
tetanus, polio and tuberculosis. prominently on her desk a drawing of a
The Tare Giorgis health post, Amsalu’s woman receiving an injectable contraceptive,
base, has no running water or electricity. a widely requested method of contraception
Vaccines are stored in a small, generator- in sub-Saharan Africa.
powered refrigerator given to her by
UNICEF in one cramped room of the three-
"The bride’s young age, often
room clinic built of mud and straw. The
main room has space for only a desk and a combined with the older age of her
few chairs. Beside it is the maternity room,
just big enough for an examination table
partner, intensifies power differentials
equipped for birth deliveries and a small side in the relationship."
table for basins and basic medical instru-
ments. Amsalu also delivers babies in homes,
reaching villages by foot, horse or donkey— Amsalu, who has a young assistant to help
unless she is lucky enough to hitch a ride on keep records and make the rounds of villages,
a passing vehicle when she gets to a road. has only a secondary school education and a
Amsalu Buke is one of more than 37,000 year of primary health-care training, includ-
health extension workers positioned around ing instructions needed to become a midwife.
the country is recent years, according to Her monthly net income is 570 Ethiopian
Fisseha Mekonnen, executive director of the birr (about $34).
Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia, Fisseha said that there are plans to
which is working with the Government to upgrade the education and training of health
improve health and expand access to family extension workers, at least to professional
planning in rural areas and nursing services paramedic level. In the meantime, he said,
in cities. The corps of health extension work- “We feel they are doing their level best.”
ers, many of them very young, is viewed as They know when more expert help is needed,
a basic model for other developing nations and are expected to send patients to hospitals
with scant health coverage; it is also a model at the first signs of serious illness. Amsalu,
T H E STAT E OF WORL D POPU L AT ION 20 1 1 19