Population Dynamics
As of the year 2011, seven billion people now live on Earth. Much has to be done in order to reduce poverty, to provide universal access to health care and family planning, and to decrease our high consumption of resources. This is where DSW steps in with its development programmes and advocacy work.
Many women give birth to more children than they want due to a lack of contraceptives and effective family planning. With the implementation of our Youth-to-Youth Initiative, we are educating thousands of young people in Africa about their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and on how to create a healthy and independent future for themselves.
Furthermore, DSW's comprehensive advocacy work is done by talking to and engaging with national, local and international political authorities. In our dialogue we advocate for the necessity of voluntary family planning and reproductive health.
Birth Rates
The number of children per woman has halved over the past 50 years. As recently as 1960, women still had five children on average. The current global average is 2.5 children per woman. Regional differences are striking: in developing countries (except China), a woman gives birth to 3.1 children on average. By comparison, women in industrialized nations give birth to an average of 1.7 children.
The decline in birth rates is coming more slowly than expected
Experts assume that the number of children per woman will decline also in developing countries. This is already happening in many countries of these regions; however, it has become apparent that mainly in the poorest developing countries the decline in birth rates has been slower than assumed in the past.
Studies show how differently global fertility rates have developed. In some developing countries, such as Thailand or Tunisia, fertility rates have declined constantly to the so-called replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman or have even dropped below this rate. In other countries, the drop in the number of children per woman has stagnated or slowed, as in Ghana, Kenya or Indonesia. A third group of countries including Niger, Nigeria and Uganda has seen only insignificant or even no recognizable reduction in fertility. These developments may have a major influence on the future dimension of the world's population.
If women had a choice
Surveys have found that many women have more children than they want to have. In Uganda, women give birth to seven children on average. This is two more children than they would actually like to have. More than 200 million women in developing countries have no access to safe and effective family planning methods.
