Seven Billion People & Women's Rights: What Is the Connection?

At the end of October, the UN projected that the world's population reached 7 billion, a scary milestone amidst increasing global political and economic instability. More people will only place increased pressure on our environment, on the world's habitats, forests, and resources such as water. But how does investing in women's rights tie into slowing the world's population growth?



What I find fascinating about this relationship is the focus it brings to the rights of the individual, especially women. What was groundbreaking at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo was the spotlight it put on women's rights. This was when population policies stopped being about controlling population and slowing population and started being about empowering women.

The idea was that if women had access to education and higher salaried jobs, they would choose to have smaller families, thus lowering fertility rates. In her post, PAI's Suzanne Ehlers identifies that we have repeatedly been shown that "if you give women the tools to have control over their lives, the numbers will follow."

So, if we already know the way forward, why does it seems as though we keep moving backwards when it comes to allowing women control over their reproductive health and rights? Why is it that even though we established a roadmap in Cairo over fifteen years ago, today in Washington attacks on women's reproductive health, both globally and domestically, persist as foreign aid keeps getting cut?

Investments in women's health must be made if we are to sustain our planet. We can still reduce the numbers and slow population growth if we address the world's unmet need for contraception, as Guttmacher Institute's Susan Cohen explains:

Responding directly to individual people's needs and desires to determine for themselves whether and when to have a child will contribute significantly toward their ability to lead healthier, more productive lives. In turn, these benefits for individuals and families accrue to their communities and to society at large. Ultimately, the impact would be felt at the global level. Meeting the stated desires of all women around the world to space or limit births would result in the world's population peaking within the next few decades -- and then actually starting to decline.


Cross-posted from Anushay's Point.

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