Bob Engelman, Brian Halweil, Danielle Nierenberg
Rapid growth of the world's human population is one of the trends underlying persistent poverty and the degradation of the natural environment. Although the global rate of population growth peaked at 2.1 percent a year in the 1960s and has declined to under 1.3 percent today, the planet still adds about 77 million people each year, the equivalent of 10 New York Cities.
Ultimately, reversing this trend depends on building and maintaining the political will to support family planning and related health services that allow couples and individuals to make their own decisions about both the timing of pregnancy and broader reproductive health matters. As the largest generation of young people in human history-1.7 billion people aged 10-24-reaches reproductive age, recasting population policy as a venture in social development and greater gender equality will be essential.
World Summit priorities: Funding universal access to reproductive health care; closing the gender gap in education; increasing female participation in all levels of politics; and enacting and enforcing strong laws to protect women from gender-based violence.