UN urges controlling population growth

Ethiopia could fight poverty and boost development by controlling the country’s rapid population growth, the UN’s Population Fund (UNFPA) said in Addis Ababa on Tuesday. Saad Raheem Sheikh, acting head of UNFPA in Ethiopia, said that slowing the population growth could achieve higher productivity in countries. Speaking at the launch of the UNFPA World Population Report 2002, he said that reproductive health will play a key role if the 2005 Millennium Development Goals are to be met. “In our world where millions of people live in absolute poverty and many more also live in squalor, there is general agreement that meeting the needs of individuals is a pressing global responsibility,” he said. But he warned that the threat of poverty, HIV/AIDS and high maternal and infant mortality could jeopardise plans aimed at improving the lives of the poor. “However, these challenges are by no means insurmountable and it is incumbent upon governments and all of us to contribute to the promotion of the development and progress of all citizens of the world,” he said. The population of Ethiopia – some 67 million people – is growing at around 2.7 percent, outstripping many other African countries. Massive population growth in the country has been blamed by aid organisations on the dramatic drop in income over the past two decades. Almost half the population lives below the national poverty line – around US $1 a day and the annual per capita income is just US $100. Mekonnen Manyazewal, Ethiopia's State Minister for Finance and Economic Development, said that the huge growth in the number of young people and the increasing elderly population is a serious challenge to the country.