1. Home
  2. Asia
  3. Pakistan

Greater investment in young people needed, says UN

[Pakistan] Street children are especially vulnerable to sexual violence IRIN
Street children are especially vulnerable to sexual violence
Pakistan would not be able to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS or come closer to gender equality unless greater investment was made in, and for, the youth, a UN official said on Wednesday. “This is a wake-up call for Pakistan - where basic information on reproductive health issues is lacking - to listen, and to invest more in its young people so they can lead healthy lives,” Olivier Brasseur, the Pakistan head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), told IRIN in the capital, Islamabad. “It is never too late for things to change. And I’m happy to say that change does appear to be taking place,” he added, pointing to a recent initiative by the ministry of education, in collaboration with UNFPA, which is including reproductive health education in a special course on population and development for grades 9-12. “Let me make it clear, though, that reproductive health education does not lead to promiscuous behaviour in children and that, in implementing this programme, we will be respectful of all social requirements,” Brasseur stressed at a seminar held in the capital to commemorate the simultaneous launch worldwide of UNFPA’s State of World Population Report 2003. The theme for this year’s annual report is the largest generation of adolescents worldwide in history, numbering about 1.2 billion. “The report has special significance for Pakistan, where the youth totals 48.3 million which amounts to 33 percent of the population,” keynote speaker Sehba Musharraf, wife of Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, told an audience of diplomats and representatives from the NGO sector. Statistical projections suggest Pakistan will have 56 million adolescents that will number by the year 2010, she said. “Within 25 years, there will be as many young people as today’s total population of Pakistan,” she added. But Pakistan was not alone in the rapid upward spiral of its adolescent population, Musharraf said. “87 percent of these adolescents live in developing countries,” she maintained, as she quoted directly from the report. “In a large group of countries, including Pakistan, along with the decline in fertility, it will effect a decline in the dependency ratio over the next two decades,” she said, adding that this demographic bonus would allow for social and economic transformation. Musharraf stressed the need for better access to health care and more education. “Strong souls and healthy bodies are needed,” she said, pointing to what she called a “terrible plague that affects Pakistan with eight to ten women dying every day because of avoidable complications.” With the highest maternal mortality rate in the region, Pakistan was paying a very high price, she said. “Firstly, mothers need to avoid too early, too frequent and too many pregnancies and, secondly, there is a need to provide all obstetric services,” she maintained. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has already committed US $35 million towards reproductive health care in Pakistan over the next five years, Brasseur told IRIN in July, with most of the money targeted on two main issues: the high level of maternal mortality and high fertility rates. Pakistan has one of the region's highest rates of maternal mortality. UNFPA has identified basic health care during pregnancy and birth as priorities for tackling the problem. Only 19 percent of births are attended by a skilled medical professional, according to a 2001 UNICEF report. UNFPA figures show that deaths from postpartum haemorrhage (bleeding after giving birth) can be reduced from 160 per 100,000 live births to 95 when the mother has access to emergency obstetric care. This is the most frequent cause of maternal mortality in Pakistan. UNFPA aims to increase the number of women having antenatal consultations and medically assisted births. The organisation is also directing its funds to rural districts where health and family planning services are more rare. As well as focusing on maternal mortality, UNFPA intends to target fertility control. "Unfortunately, here in Pakistan women start (having children) too soon, they have too frequent pregnancies and they have too many children," Brasseur said in July. In addition to the health risks for mothers from high fertility rates, the population increase is a concern for Pakistan as a whole. The Economic Survey of Pakistan 2001-2002 said that 43 percent of Pakistan's 142-million population is under the age of 15. The working population is under increasing pressure as it supports a growing number of children. In order to prevent a further large-scale expansion of the population, the UNFPA recommends that family planning education should be made a government priority for adolescents. Teenagers will be targeted by UNFPA's own programmes for education and medical services.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Get the day’s top headlines in your inbox every morning

Starting at just $5 a month, you can become a member of The New Humanitarian and receive our premium newsletter, DAWNS Digest.

DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.

Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.

It’s the perfect way to start your day.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian today and you’ll automatically be subscribed to DAWNS Digest – free of charge.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join