INTERNATIONAL FEATURE STATE OF WORLD POPULATION 2023: ENSURING RIGHTS AND CHOICES KEY TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT BY UNFPA BRAZIL THE WORLD POPULATION HAS REACHED 8 BILLION PEOPLE. This is a milestone to be celebrated: it represents longer and healthier lives, with more rights and choices than ever in humanity’s history. But for some groups, the understanding of the scenario was different: headlines warn of a world heading towards overpopulation, or of countries and even entire regions aging into obsolescence. Such representations represent birth rates as both a problem and a solution but do not recognize the autonomy of the people who give birth. Expanding and guaranteeing human rights, especially of women and girls, should be the central concern. Additionally, migration, often addressed with a tone of alarm, must be considered as part of the solution: in countries of origin, it can reduce unemployment and underemployment and contribute to reducing poverty and promoting wider economic and social development, while meeting workforce demands in destination countries. The new data published by The State of World Population 2023, “8 Billion Lives, Infinite Possibilities: In defense of rights and choices”, from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), shows that it is possible to reach higher levels of development, progress, and equality. But only if governments and the media work together to guarantee access to rights, as well as the information for conscious choices, abandoning the narrative of increasing or decreasing populations and of an alleged ideal number of children. History has shown that fertility policies created to increase or decrease birth rates are frequently ineffective and tend to harm women’s rights. Several countries have implemented programs to create larger families, offering financial incentives and rewards ILLUSTRATED BY TIAGO PALMA Instead of asking how quickly people are reproducing, political leaders should ask if individuals, especially women, are able to freely make their own reproductive choices – a question to which the answer is, very frequently, no. “The quest for fertility goals and the attempt to influence to women and their families, but continue to see birth rates below two children per woman. Meanwhile, there are efforts to slow down population increase through forced sterilization and coercive contraception – a severe violation of human rights. Women’s bodies and access to prevention possibilities and unintended pregnancies cannot be factors controlled by population policies. Demography cannot be synonymous with a reduction in rights. women’s reproductive decision-making will only result in failure,” says Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA. “History has established that those policies are rarely effective and harm women’s rights. Investing in people and in their potential is the safest way to prosperity and peace.” A staggering 44% of women and girls in 68 countries do not have the right to make informed decisions about their bodies when it comes to having sex, using contraceptives, and seeking medical care, and it is estimated that 257 million women worldwide have an unmet need for safe and reliable contraceptives. Family planning should not be used as a tool to reach fertility goals – in fact, it should be used as a tool to give people greater possibilities. Women should be able to choose if, when, and how often they would like to have children, without coercion from so-called experts and authorities. The report emphatically recommends that governments establish policies with gender equality and rights at their core, such as parental license programs, child tax credits, policies that promote gender equality in the workplace, universal access to healthcare, and sexual and reproductive rights. These policies offer a proven formula that will reap economic dividends and lead to resilient societies that are capable of thriving, regardless of population changes. Only with organized policies will we be able to guarantee that people make well-informed and protected choices regarding reproduction. ■ Courtesy of UNFPA Brazil / INSP.ngo 4 DENVER VOICE February 2024
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