Sindh population may touch 95.7m by 2050, says UN report

Rising numbers put pressure on meagre resources

KARACHI:

With an average annual growth rate of 2.41 per cent in Sindh, the total current population of 56.3 million (2022), is estimated to grow to 95.7 million by 2050.

At least 3,000 maternal deaths occur annually due to insufficient health coverage, which can be reduced by 33 per cent if contraceptive use rises from current 31 per cent to 49 per cent.

High fertility contributes to infant mortality and malnutrition in Sindh. As a result, 60 infants die before reaching one year of age (per 1,000 live births) and 50 per cent of children under the age of five are stunted in Sindh.

Currently, more than half of the girls at 51 per cent (age 5-16), are out of school in Sindh, together with 39 percent of boys. Without investment in family planning, women's empowerment and education it will be challenging to accommodate the growing population.

 These findings were shared at the Consultative Workshop on Voluntary National Survey and International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held on Thursday by the Federal Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

"The consultations are facilitating diverse views on human rights, population, sexual and reproductive health, gender equality and sustainable development. These will be merged into a remarkable consensus that places individual dignity and human rights, including the right to plan one's family, at the very heart of development," said UNFPA head of office in Sindh Bayramgul Garabayeva.

Sindh Parliamentary Health Secretary, Qasim Soomro said that making population policy implementation a national priority and an overarching framework is important for Pakistan's sustainable development.

Talking about the current state of Sindh's population Bayramgul Garabayeva  said that a rapidly growing population means ever-increasing demands for food, schools, health facilities, jobs and infrastructure, and rising pressure on the government to keep pace in providing these services at an equally fast rate.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2023.