Population, gender & austerity.

LEADING economists of Pakistan say that 'population explosion' is one of the biggest - if not the biggest - economic challenges facing the country. Pakistan has the fastest-growing population in South Asia with a fertility rate that is almost twice as high as that of India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

A rapidly growing population of course puts strain on limited resources and is, therefore, a cause for serious concern. But Pakistan's 'population explosion' is not only a development issue - it represents grave human rights violations. Unwanted pregnancies seriously diminish the well-being of women and girls, while exposing them to maternal health risks due to the poor availability of quality obstetric care services.

To address the 'population explosion', we must understand the cause. Pakistan's failure to stem its population growth rate is a symptom of steep and persistent gender inequality. That Pakistan is the second-worst performing country in the world in terms of gender parity (it ranked 145 out of 146 countries in the last World Economic Forum gender parity report) is an indication of the cause as well as a consequence of the high population growth rate.

Countries that have successfully reduced fertility rates did so by investing in women's agency and empowerment. Education and employment opportunities that promote women's awareness and decision-making capabilities around their reproductive health lead to increased use of family planning methods.

Countries that have successfully reduced fertility rates did so by investing in women's agency.

A good example is Bangladesh, which has made significant strides towards gender equality in the last few decades: the gender wage gap in Bangladesh is among the smallest in the world, and more girls than boys attend secondary schools. In contrast to Pakistan's fertility rate at 3.6, Bangladesh's fertility is two births for every woman.

To address 'population explosion', our state must adopt policies and programmes that promote women's agency and decision-making capabilities. There are many obstacles to achieving this, including deep-seated patriarchal traditions and misplaced government priorities.

The distortion of religion in Pakistan has played a role in stigmatising family planning methods. In the 1960s, founder and leader of Jamaat-i-Islami, Maulana Maududi, declared that the government's family planning programme was against Islam. Although a vast majority of religious scholars agree that birth...

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