UNFPA Seeks Closure Of Gaps On Sexual, Reproductive Services

As the world marks the 2021 World Population Day, the Executive Director of UNFPA, Dr Natalia Kanem, has urged governments to close the gaps created by the Covid-19 pandemic everywhere sexual and reproductive services are essentials even as it advised against reactionary policy responses that can be extremely harmful if they violate rights, health and choices.
In her message to mark the day themed: “Rights and Choices are the Answer: Whether baby boom or bust, the solution to shifting fertility rates lie in prioritising all people’s reproductive health and rights”, Kanem noted that despite the fact that Covid-19 has disrupted childbearing for some people, it has also disrupted the health services leaving many with unintended pregnancies.
She said the disruption by Covid-19 has provoked alarmist concern about baby boom or busts.
“But the real cause for concern comes when people cannot exercise their sexual and reproductive rights and choices because of disruptions in the health services.
“The pandemic may influence choices but the right to decide when and if to have family does not change.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has compromised health care systems particularly in the area of sexual and reproductive health.
Similarly, in a statement on its websites, it noted that the pandemic also exposed and exacerbated gender-based inequities: gender-based violence increased under lockdown, as did the risk of child marriage and female genital mutilation as programmes to abolish the harmful practices were disrupted.
“Significant numbers of women left the labour force – their often low-paying jobs were eliminated or care-giving responsibilities for children learning remotely or for homebound older people increased – destabilizing their finances, not just for now but in the long run.
“Against this backdrop, many countries are expressing growing concern over changing fertility rates. Historically, alarmism over fertility rates has led to abrogation of human rights.”
The agency further emphasised that women must be empowered educationally, economically and politically to exercise choice over their bodies and fertility.
Quoting the WPD dashboard, UNFPA said that it took hundreds of thousands of years for the world population to grow to 1billion – then in just another 200 years or so, it grew sevenfold.
On average 4.5 children each; by 2015, total fertility for the world had fallen to below 2.5 children per woman.
Meanwhile, average global life spans have risen, from 64.6 years in the early 1990s to 72.6 years in 2019.
It also added that the world is seeing high levels of urbanisation and accelerating migration.