The Population Challenge in South and West Asia

The world's population is expected to increase from 5.48 billion in 1992 to 10 billion in 2050. Asia, which has 50 percent of the world's total, will contribute to over 60 percent of the expected increase.

In 1994, South and West Asia including the countries of Central Asia and Azerbaijan were home to approximately 1.18 billion people. Every fifth person in the world was from this sub-region.

Countries of South, West and Central Asia vary widely in terms of population size, density, levels of mortality, fertility, literacy, income and status women, etc. Concerns about population trends also differ among the countries.

Yet, these countries share several common problems. Among them are: high levels of fertility, maternal and infant mortality, rapid increase of population and persistently high rate of unemployment particularly among the youth. These problems are likely to further exacerbate as socio-economic development in these countries does not keep pace with population growth.

UNFPA's RESPONSE

As the world's largest multi-lateral population agency, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has endeavoured to respond to these challenges. It has assisted developing countries in finding solutions to their population problems.

In providing technical assistance, UNFPA emphasizes national capacity-building for the attainment of self-reliance.

With a view to bringing high-quality and timely technical assistance to the countries, UNFPA has established eight multi-disciplinary technical teams around the world. These teams, made up of experts from United Nations, its specialized agencies, and Regional Commissions, are coordinated by UNFPA.

The UNFPA Country Technical Services Team for South and West Asia (CST for SAWA), based in Kathmandu, Nepal is one of them.

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