ISLAMABAD, July 6: The United Nations Fund for Population will provide $35 million for population welfare, UNFPA country representative Olivier Brasseur said here on Sunday.

He was speaking at a press briefing on the “Perspective plan 2012,” prepared by the ministry of population welfare, in collaboration of the UNFPA, here on Sunday.

The Pakistan government, UNFPA, and USAID had signed a $70 million agreement under which population welfare services will be provided to the people through private sector and NGOs in the next five years.

Speaking on the occasion population welfare secretary Abdur Rashid Khan said Pakistan would achieve fertility replacement level of 2.1 per women by year 2020.

He said at present the fertility replacement level is 4.5 per women and country’s population was growing at the rate of 2.1 per cent per annum.

If government’s efforts bear fruit, then replacement level will come down to 2.1 per women by year 2020, he said adding even then the population will continue to rise in the next four decades.

He said it will take about 60 to 70 years to flatten the growth in population.

The ministry of population welfare has prepared a 10-year “Perspective Plan 2012” which envisages to bring down population growth rate to 1.9 per cent by 2004, 1.6 per cent by 2012 and 1.3 percent by 2020.

The secretary said rising population was the biggest problem of the country and the government alone cannot tackle it. The country’s population now stands at 149 million which is growing at 2.06 per cent per annum and at this rate the population can double in the next 34 years.

Pakistan has the highest growth rate in the region and in terms of population, it is sixth largest country in the world, fourth in Asia and second in the Saarc region.

Pakistan along with the world will observe World Population Day on July 11, the secretary said, this year a function will be organised in the federal capital and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali will be the chief guest.

The secretary said the increasing population negatively affected health and education facilities, environment and puts pressure on employment situation which weakened economy and led to increase in crime and other social evils.

The major focus of population welfare programmes will be rural areas where 70 per cent of the total population badly needs health facilities as maternal and infant mortality rate is high there, he added.—APP