Yahoo – AFP,
Dario Thuburn, 18 Nov 2014
London (AFP) - Fewer babies could mean an "economic miracle" for sub-Saharan Africa, with gains of $500 billion (400 billion euros) a year over three decades for the region, the UN Population Fund said Tuesday.
People walk
around the bustling Gikomba Market on July 10, 2014 in Nairobi,
Kenya (AFP
Photo/Simon Maina)
|
London (AFP) - Fewer babies could mean an "economic miracle" for sub-Saharan Africa, with gains of $500 billion (400 billion euros) a year over three decades for the region, the UN Population Fund said Tuesday.
The State
of World Population report said a total of 59 nations were poised for a
"demographic dividend" when the working-age population outnumbers the
rest due to declining fertility rates.
The United
Nations agency said these nations -- almost all in Africa -- could follow the
example of East Asian economies like South Korea whose rise since the 1970s was
helped by demographics.
A UN
Population Fund report says 59
nations were poised for a "demographic
dividend" when the working-age population
outnumbers the rest due to
declining
fertility rates (AFP Photo/Fati Moalusi)
|
"The
'economic miracle' experienced by East Asian economies could become a reality
for many of today's poorer countries," the report said.
It said
there was also evidence to suggest that the demographic dividends could make
the transition to more democratic forms of government "more likely".
The report
found that the share of the youth population peaked in around 2010 in the
world's least developed countries and "has begun declining", meaning
that the working-age population in those countries will more than double by
2050.
In Nigeria,
the most populous nation in Africa, the report said the demographic wave could
"treble per capita income in a generation" as long as it was
accompanied by the right policies and investments.
"The
right investments are education, particularly girls' education. Girls must go
to school, they must stay in school," the fund's executive director
Babatunde Osotimehin told AFP in an interview.
"We
also believe that health services, particularly reproductive health services,
must be made available so women can make choices over their lives," he
said.
But the
Nigerian, a trained doctor, warned that health systems in countries in west
Africa affected by Ebola had been "overwhelmed" and said that this
could have a knock-on effect for the care of pregnant women and children.
"You
actually might end up with more fatalities from that than you would from
Ebola," he said.
'Unmet
need' for contraception
The report
said governments should be ready to take advantage of the demographic dividend
as there was only a "one-time opportunity" for rapid economic growth
offered by this windfall.
"Without
a solid economic and policy framework to back it up, the demographic dividend
may not be fully realised," it said.
The
countries named in the report also include some nations from continents other
than Africa like Afghanistan, Iraq, Papua New Guinea and Yemen.
The report
said that all the countries were on a path of demographic transition that
begins with a lowering of infant mortality rates, which in turn encourages
parents to have fewer children and invest more in their education and
healthcare.
It noted
that women in developing countries "generally have more children than they
desire" and there was "an unmet need for modern contraception".
"Today
there are more than 220 million women who want family planning and are not
getting it," Osotimehin said.
An Afghan
child uses a donkey to
transport grass on the outskirts of
Jalalabad, October
20, 2014 (AFP
Photo/Noorullah Shirzada)
|
It quoted
research by David Bloom, a professor at Harvard University's School of Public
Health, showing that the "demographic dividend" accounted for up to
one third of that rise in income.
"We
reckon that if all of Africa does this and in a timely fashion it will add
about $500 billion to the GDP of Africa per year. Its' huge. It's about a third
of what (GDP) is now," Osotimehin said.
Global
fertility rates internationally have been dropping since the 1950s, from an
average of six children per woman to about 2.5 today.
While the
trend could be an economic boon for the developing world, the report warned
that it was becoming a problem for mature economies.
"This
demographic reality, tied to the ongoing shift in the balance of world
population from younger to older people, creates risks," the report said.
In
developed economies "smaller cohorts of young people may be tasked with
paying more per person for the pensions and healthcare costs of larger older
populations".
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"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
“… 3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…
Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?
The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].
Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”
Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”
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