Population

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) today awarded the Population Award for an individual to its youngest‑ever recipient, Emma Theofelus, a 25-year-old Parliamentarian from Namibia for her work advocating for women’s empowerment and adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

The Commission on Population and Development ended its fifty-fifth session today, approving by consensus a draft resolution urging support for women, young people and other marginalized groups in efforts to achieve sustained and inclusive economic growth.

The Commission on Population and Development zeroed in today on the crucial work that the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs delivers to countries around the world as they cope with a range of demographic challenges that could impact realization of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Speakers addressing the Commission on Population and Development urged Governments to enact more robust social protection schemes across the human life cycle — aimed at helping young people, women and members of marginalized social groups achieve their full productive potential — as the body continued its fifty-fifth session today.

Experts outlined demographic and development-based approaches to “building back better” from the coronavirus pandemic while advancing towards full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as the Commission on Population and Development’s annual session entered its second day today.

Against the backdrop of shifting population demographics, conflicts, post-pandemic economic shocks and climate change, the developing world is on the brink of a “perfect storm” of debt, food and energy crises, experts warned today, as the Commission on Population and Development opened its fifty-fifth session.

United Nations staff in South Africa say they are working closely with national and local authorities to support regions impacted by last week’s devastating floods, including providing dignity packs, blankets, food and other necessities in Kwazulu-Natal and Eastern Cape Provinces, and working to restore access to services and Internet connectivity.

Nearly half of all pregnancies worldwide, about 121 million a year, are unintended, a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says, warning the Ukraine and other conflicts are expected to drive an increase through disruption of access to contraception and growing sexual violence.

Some 14.6 million Syrians need humanitarian assistance in 2022, the Syria Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2022 says, 9 per cent more than in 2021.  More households are turning to negative ways of coping, including child labour, child marriage and the sale of productive assets.

The United Nations Population Fund launched a $835 million appeal to reach 54 million women, girls and young people in 61 countries in 2022 — the agency’s largest ever humanitarian appeal — seeking integrated sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence services, as well as comprehensive support for survivors of violence.