Giving women the power to make decisions key to controlling population growth: UN

The UN Population Fund recently underscored the need to empower women with healthcare, education and equal opportunities to bring the growing global population under control.

On World Population Day – observed each year on July 11 – the UN agency said giving women the power to make decisions about their bodies would bring a decline in unplanned pregnancies.

The UN believes getting better control of population growth is necessary in order to better execute plans to end poverty or to ensure access to basic services for all.

Although girls and women represent 49.7% of the global population, their opinions are often ignored in discussions on demographics and population policies.

The result?

This injustice limits their ability to make decisions about their health and sexual and reproductive lives, while increasing their vulnerability to preventable maternal death.

25% of girls and women worldwide cannot make decisions about their own health, 24% are unable to say no to sex and 11% cannot make decisions about contraception, the UNFPA found.

A substantial number of pregnancies are unintended, underscoring the tremendous impact on women’s basic human right to decide the number and spacing of their kids.

The Situation Isn’t Any Better In MENA

Poor census-taking and cultural norms are delaying action on controlling population growth in some areas of the Middle East.

For instance, sanctions, conflicts and instability have made it difficult for Iraq to conduct a full census. The last one was in 1987, which put the population at 22 million.

But recent calculations mainly based on the country’s annual growth or birth rate have put the population at about 42.3 million as of last year.

But the UNFPA estimates Iraq’s population to be around 45.5 million as of 2023, with people aged between 15 and 64 representing 59% of its population.

Population Growth And Resources’ Availability

While modest estimates have put the population of Egypt – the most populous in the region – at 104 million, UN data shows the figures could reach up to 112 million.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has repeatedly raised concerns over the country’s growing population, calling it a major obstacle to attempts to curb poverty.

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But prominent rights groups and critics of the government argue a large population could be beneficial if more funds were invested in empowering Egyptians through higher education.

Moreover, a big chunk of family planning schemes in the country is largely focused on regulating women over men.