ISLAMABAD: The growing population is likely to outstrip developmental gains and continue to adversely affect the economy, environment, health, education and quality of the lives of all citizens, a report released on Wednesday said.

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world, with 208 million people and an annual population growth rate of 2.4pc.

The new report, released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and titled The Power of Choice: Reproductive Rights and the Demographic Transition, said that the global trend towards smaller families is a reflection of people making reproductive choices to have as few or as many children as they want, and when they want. Once people lack choice, it can have a long-term impact on fertility rates.

Family size is closely linked with reproductive rights, which, in turn, are tied to many other rights, including the right to health care, education and jobs. Where people can exercise their rights, they tend to thrive.

UNFPA launches global report on reproductive rights

Where these rights are stifled, people often fail to achieve their full potential, impeding economic and social progress.

“Choice can change the world,” UNFPA Executive Director Dr Natalia Kanem wrote in the report’s foreword. “It can rapidly improve the well-being of women and girls, transform families, and accelerate global development.”

When a woman has the power and means to prevent or delay a pregnancy, for example, she has more control over her health and can enter or stay in the paid labour force and realise her full economic potential.

“Choices can change the world. The power to choose the number, timing and spacing of pregnancies will bolster economic and social progress around the world for decades to come. The unmet need for modern contraception prevents thousands of families from choosing their desired family size and perusing their dreams and aspirations,” Dr Hassan Mohtashami, the UNFPA representative in Pakistan, said.

According to the UNFPA’s The State of World Population 2018, Pakistan is the world’s fifth most populous country with a population of 208 million and an annual population growth rate of 2.4pc.

National Institute of Population Studies Executive Director Pervaiz Ahmed Junejo said: “The Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) key indicators report shows that the current Total Fertility Rate (TFR) at 3.6 is considerably high compared to the countries in the region except Afghanistan.”

The global report found that no country can claim that all of its citizens enjoy reproductive rights at all times. Most couples cannot have the number of children they desire to have because they either lack economic and social support to achieve their preferred family size, or don’t have the means to control their fertility. The unmet need for modern contraception prevents millions of women from choosing smaller families.

Since the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, reproductive health and rights have substantially improved around the world. People have more information about their reproductive rights and choices, and a greater capacity to claim their rights.

“The historic transition to lower fertility has emerged through people claiming their right to make choices about their reproductive lives, and to have as few, or as many, children as they want, when they want,” the report stated.

The report classified all countries in the world by the current dynamics of their populations’ fertility.

To make freedom of choice a reality, says the report, countries can prioritise universal access to quality reproductive healthcare, including modern contraceptives; ensure better education, including age-appropriate and culturally-sensitive sexuality education; advocate for a change in men’s attitudes to be supportive of the rights and aspirations of women and girls; and make it easier for couples to have more children, if they want them, by enabling greater work-life balance through measures such as affordable child care.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2018