10-Apr-2019: State of the World Population 2019

Reproductive rights and choices have become a reality for more women than ever, says UNFPA’s flagship report, State of World Population 2019. Yet despite these gains, vast numbers of women around the world are not empowered to make fundamental decisions about their own bodies.

UNFPA’s report publishes, for the first time, data on women’s ability to make decisions over three key areas: sexual intercourse with their partner, contraception use and health care.

Across the 51 countries where this information is available, only 57 per cent of women who are married or in a relationship are able to make their own choices over all three areas.

Women’s sexual and reproductive autonomy was greatest in two countries: the Philippines and Ukraine, where 81 per cent of women are empowered to make these decisions for themselves. It was lowest in three countries: Mali, Niger and Senegal. In these countries, only 7 per cent of women are able to make their own choices over all three areas.

As dire as the statistics may seem, they represent massive progress in the long history of reproductive health and rights, says the new report, which is titled “Unfinished business: The pursuit of rights and choices for all.”

It was only in 1968 that leaders affirmed, for the first time in a global declaration, that individuals had the right to “determine freely and responsibly the number and the spacing of their children.” Increasing numbers of people were able to exercise this right as family planning methods became more accessible and reliable. And as women grew empowered to make their own reproductive choices, a wide range of benefits accrued to their health and economic well-being.

Then 25 years ago, at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), governments of the world adopted a revolutionary agreement calling for women’s reproductive health and rights to take centre stage in development efforts. Since then, access to voluntary family planning has expanded around the world. In 1994, 52 per cent of women used modern contraceptives, compared to 58 per cent today. Access to reproductive health services has improved, too. The number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes has dropped from 369 per 100,000 live births in 1994 to 216 in 2015.

But these gains are not enough. Marginalized groups, in particular, face some of the highest unmet need for sexual and reproductive health services, the report says. These include ethnic minorities, youth, unmarried people, lesbian, gay, bisexual and intersex people, people with disabilities, and those living in poverty. And in some circumstances, people are even losing access to the services they need to exercise their reproductive rights.

The road to Nairobi: This year, a quarter century after the landmark ICPD agreement, the world must redouble its efforts to secure the reproductive health and rights of all people.

In November, the Government of Kenya, the Government of Denmark and UNFPA will convene a high-level conference in Nairobi urging leaders, governments and a wide range of partners to re-commit to realizing rights and choices for all.

The Nairobi Summit will help us rally a broad coalition of stakeholders to protect the gains made and advance the ICPD agenda to ensure that no one is left behind.

Indian statistics:

• India accounts for over one-sixth of the world’s population in 2019 (1.37 billion out of 7.71 billion). It has grown at a rate (1.2% per year between 2010 and 2019) that is just over the world growth rate (1.2%).
• India’s life expectancy at birth is lower than the world’s (69 years to 72). It scores higher than the global average in terms of access to healthcare during childbirth, and also has a much lower adolescent birth rate.
• India’s maternal mortality ratio in 2015 was 174 deaths per lakh live births (down from 448 in 1994) while the global MMR in 2015 was 216.
• India’s fertility rate in 2019 is 2.3 births per woman, compared to 2.5 worldwide.

8-Jul-2019: Homicide kills far more people than armed conflict, says new UNODC study.

Some 464,000 people across the world were killed in homicides in 2017, surpassing by far the 89,000 killed in armed conflicts in the same period, according to the Global Study on Homicide 2019 published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The Global Study on Homicide seeks to shed light on gender-related killings, lethal gang violence and other challenges, to support prevention and interventions to bring down homicide rates. Countries have committed to targets under the Sustainable Development Goals to reduce all forms of violence and related death rates by 2030. This report offers important examples of effective community-based interventions that have helped to bring about improvements in areas afflicted by violence, gangs and organized crime.

The study shows that the overall number of people who suffered a violent death as a result of homicide increased in the past quarter of a century, from 395,542 in 1992 to 464,000 in 2017. However, because the global population has risen faster than the increase in recorded homicide victims, the overall risk of being killed in homicides has declined steadily. The global homicide rate, measured as the victims of homicide per 100,000 people, declined from 7.2 in 1992, to 6.1 in 2017.

Organized crime alone was responsible for up to 19 per cent of all homicides in 2017. Since the start of the twenty-first century, organized crime killed about as many people as all armed conflicts across the world combined. Moreover, just like armed conflicts, organized crime destabilizes countries, undermines socioeconomic development and erodes the rule of law.

The 2017 average global homicide rate (6.1) masks dramatic regional variations. The rate in the Americas (17.2) was the highest recorded in the region since reliable records began in 1990. Africa's rate (13.0) was also above the global average, whereas the rates in Asia, Europe and Oceania were below the global average (2.3, 3.0 and 2.8 respectively).

Though homicide rates remain high in the Americas, the picture varies hugely within the region and within individual countries. In Central America, the country with the highest homicide rate (62.1) had a rate more than seven times that of the country with the lowest. In South America, the country with the highest homicide rate (56.8) had a rate more than 16 times that of the country with the lowest. Within countries in the Americas, high homicide levels are clustered, with some local populations facing homicide rates comparable to death rates in conflict zones and others having a negligible risk.

Most homicide victims are men, but women more often killed by family and intimate partners. Globally, some 81 per cent of homicide victims recorded in 2017 were men and boys, and more than 90 per cent of suspects in homicide cases were men, according to the most recent estimates. However, the study shows that the gender disparity among victims changes with age.

Girls and boys aged nine and under are killed at roughly equal rates, in marked contrast to all other age groups, in which males make up more than 50 per cent of the victims, according to data from 41 countries.

In all regions, the likelihood of boys becoming victims of homicide increases with age, although this process occurs at different stages. Men and male adolescents aged between 15 and 29 are at the highest risk of homicide globally.

Although women and girls account for a far smaller share of victims of homicide in general than men, they continue to bear by far the greatest burden of intimate partner and family-related homicide.

Targeted and efficient interventions to counter homicide require a comprehensive understanding of its scale and drivers. The drivers of homicide highlighted in the study include inequality, unemployment, political instability, the prevalence of gender stereotypes in society, and the presence of organized crime.

The study also points to the importance of a governance model centred on the rule of law, control of corruption, and investment in socioeconomic development, including in education, as critical in bringing down the rate of violent crime. Firearms and drugs and alcohol are further facilitators of homicide that need to be addressed, according to the study.