AS the global community observes World Population Day today, a strange dilemma confronts humanity. In many developed states, such as Japan, South Korea and many European countries, populations are declining as people age and birth rates are low. This ‘negative population growth’ throws up its own set of challenges, as a day may come when there will not be enough human resources to keep societies functioning efficiently, while pension bills shoot up. On the other hand, there are resource-strained developing states like Pakistan, where the population growth rate remains high, and feeding, educating and keeping such large masses healthy is a major challenge. The numbers of the recently concluded census suggest nearly 250m people live in the country; the 2017 head count showed a population of around 208m. The fertility rate is high, as are the number of unwanted pregnancies and abortions, estimated in the millions. Yet despite these alarming numbers, no one at the helm seems to have a coherent strategy to ensure a more sustainable population growth rate.

Rather than enforcing state efforts to ‘control’ the population, the centre and the provinces need to give families, particularly women, the information and tools required to help them plan the ideal number of children. This can help reduce unwanted pregnancies and improve maternal health. Providing women information and contraceptives through culturally appropriate methods can aid the goal of planned parenthood. Considering the mostly conservative milieu of our society, it is essential that the clergy and community leaders are brought on board to promote family planning. The notion that planned families are against religious norms can easily be disabused by pointing out that countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh — all Muslim states — have successfully reduced their respective population growth rates. The criteria of the National Finance Commission award, which, in effect, rewards high population, can also be revamped to give provinces incentives to achieve more sustainable numbers. Pakistan needs to stay away from both extremes: policies such as the one-child scheme that infringe on personal rights as well as letting the population grow unhindered. Instead, balanced and progressive community-led and state-supported initiatives are needed to encourage family planning. If this is not done, a dystopian future likely awaits us, where there are simply not enough resources to support a huge population.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2023