At a time when the attention of the international community is focused on climate change and soaring food prices, it is all too easy to overlook problems fueled by the world's rapidly growing population. It should be remembered that the world will not be able to solve the problems of global warming and rising food prices unless it can slow its population growth. In 1987, the world's population topped 5 billion; but in 20 years, it has swelled to 6.67 billion. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that it will reach 9.2 billion in 2050 — the 2.5 billion increase being equivalent to the world's total population in 1950. Of the increase, 1.2 billion will be in Asia and 1 billion in Africa.
The theme of World Population Day 2008, celebrated July 11, was "Family Planning: It's a Right, Let's Make it Real." The U.N. underscores individuals' basic human right to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children.
In their recent summit, the leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations declared: "Reproductive health should be made widely accessible." Reproductive health services, including family planning and health services during pregnancy and childbirth, could not only reduce the number of maternal deaths and incidents of disability but also advance women's empowerment and gender equality, as UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid stresses.