World population crosses 8 billion, creating many challenges

In Pattaya City, Thailand

Participants in the ongoing international family planning yesterday celebrated the eight billion world population mark as experts warn of dire consequences of the numbers.

With an evening reception celebrating “The 8 billion: a World of Infinite Possibilities, organised by the United Nations Population Fund, the participants celebrated the milestone for humanity on the margins of the ongoing International Conference on Family Planning 2022 in Thailand.

“It’s a milestone we can celebrate and an occasion to reflect on how we create a world in which all 8 billion of us can thrive. We now need to grapple with the consequences and the opportunities. The growth of our population is a testament to humanity’s achievements, including advancements in health care,” says the UNFPA Executive Director Dr Natalia Kanem.

“It is a spacious moment to hold this conversation, today, the world population clock turned eight billion. This is a historic milestone for humanity,” shouted the

Clocking eight billion is a success story, it is a story of people living longer and healthy lives. A story of more resilient and effective health care systems of both women and babies surviving childbirth.

It shows the demographic dividends reaped by investing in young people and in family planning

The global population landscape has changed, ravage population increases, declining fertility, and migration all of these reshaping societies.

The number of people forced from their homes due to conflicts, violence and climate change is shameful and in the face of all the challenges, health resilience is the very survival of all 8 billion of us and will depend upon the right of everyone.

“I am speaking about humanity in all the four diversities, the right to make an informed choice, claim, evaluate and forge the right future. We cannot allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of these numbers,” she said

Take a moment, and imagine our precious ten years old girl who when she was born in 2012, the world had just surpassed the seven billion population.

“Why should she have to navigate her adolescent confused? Confused about the changes in her body and coerced into dangers she cannot possibly understand. Shouldn’t the messages she hears around her help her to be safe and confident?

However, misinformation about contraception, menstruation and her supposed duty to marry a man way older than her is all she is told, who will defend her from giving birth before her mind and body are ready?

“We must be the ones standing up for her by doing everything we can to defend her. We want to see her nurtured, protected and imaging into self-assured adulthood,” she says.

She adds: “As eight billion, we have the power to shape our common futures. And by protecting individual rights, we can unlock the unlimited potential of people around the world to address the challenges facing their societies and the global problems imperilling us all.”

However, according to UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres in a statement, in as much as people are living longer, the population growth is also a result of higher fertility rates, particularly in the world's poorest countries -- most of which are in sub-Saharan Africa -- putting their development goals at risk.

The growth, he said, will definitely have more impact on the environment and economic development

The UN projects the population to continue growing to about 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and peaking around 10.4 billion in the 2080s.

While commenting on the 8 billion population news, Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs said that rapid population growth makes eradicating poverty, combating hunger and malnutrition, and increasing the coverage of health and education systems more difficult.

The relationship between population growth and sustainable development is complex and multidimensional. Conversely, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, especially those related to health, education and gender equality, will contribute to reducing fertility levels and slowing global population growth,” he said.

The UN argued that population statistic poses a great challenge in ensuring food security and eradication of poverty stating that the increase in population means that humans are taking up way more than the earth can replenish in a period of time and that a lot of food is being lost or going to waste.

Roughly two months ago, the Global Footprint Network released a report listing Kenya among the countries using mother nature’s resources faster than the earth can replenish them. This, they noted, has been occasioned by an explosion in the population that has put pressure on the available resources, with the demand exceeding the supply.

Besides, according to a 2019 report by the UN on the state of nature around the world, humans have significantly altered three-quarters of all land and two-thirds of the oceans. more than a third of land and three-quarters of freshwater resources are devoted to crops or livestock. As a result, food systems are leaving many hungry, while increasing the risk of malnutrition.

“In 2019, almost 690 million people, or 8.9 per cent of the global population, were undernourished. Furthermore, after more than a decade of steady decline, the number of undernourished people has been rising since 2014 and is now back at levels seen in the period 2008–2009,” says the UN.

“The stall in global progress against undernourishment has been driven by many factors, including economic slowdowns, armed conflicts, humanitarian emergencies, disease outbreaks, pest infestations and adverse consequences of climate change, including drought and extreme weather events.

In general, undernourishment is closely linked with poverty, inequalities and social exclusion. Globally, 6.9 per cent of children under age five in 2019 suffered from wasting, a sign of severe acute malnutrition, above the global target of less than 5 per cent by 2025,” It adds.

It states that the impact of population growth, which drives increased demand for food, is exacerbated by changes in the types and quantities of food demanded per person. This translates to changes in diets, an increase in the production of certain foods, which results in an increase in greenhouse emissions

Ms Diene Keita, UNFPA, however, said that the world should be excited for having clicked the 8 billion mark because everyone worked to have less maternal mortality.

“This means that we live longer and the children have more chances to survive and that’s why we have eight billion people now. This is a reason to be excited,” she said.

Dr Rachel Snow, Branch Chief of Population and Development in the Technical Division of UNFPA, says that we should not be afraid of too many people adding that the pace is decelerating and the eight billion mark indicates that the world is diverse.

“Some countries are growing fast and they are young while others are slowing down and even declining in population and this is good for our growth,” she says

She says in Europe, the median age is 41-year-old while in Africa it is 17 years old, while people are ageing, they are still competent and can still contribute to life.

Africa is projected to be one of the fastest-growing places on earth right now. India is set to overtake China as the most populous country in the world next year.

Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, is growing fast.

She asked the countries to make family planning a priority. The more you have less educated people. If we want the development to change, then we have to ensure that family planning is part of the Universal Health Coverage package.

“Family planning takes into account so many other things. When a country invests a dollar in FP, you get four dollars in return because a pillar of development is reproductive rights and gender equality. When families are healthier children are healthier,” says Ms Keita.

With this, she said, we can make a world that can solve her problems.