10 Little-Known Facts on Births, Mums, Population

My piece for the UN presenting 10 snippets about population trends, focusing on the plight of children and teen mothers outside the developed world. 

Click here for the full story behind the snippets summarized below:

1. There are more young people in the world than ever before, creating unprecedented potential for economic and social progress.

2. Women in sub-Saharan Africa are as likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth as women in nineteenth-century England, when Charles Dickens described these horrors in Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol.

3. A staggering 225 million women in developing countries want to avoid pregnancy but are not using modern contraceptives. And tens of millions of women do not receive the basic pregnancy and delivery care they need.

4. Despite prohibitions, child marriage remains widespread around the world. About 37,000 child marriages take place each day.

5. Complications in pregnancy and childbirth are the second leading killer of adolescent girls in developing countries.

6. By the end of the century, the world’s population might be as high as 17 billion or as low as 7 billion, according to the most recent UN estimates.

7. HIV-related deaths are down 35 per cent from 2005 – but estimates suggest that deaths among adolescents are actually rising.

8. If current trends continue, an estimated 15 million girls between ages 15 and 19 will be subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) between now and 2030.

9. There are more people migrating than ever before. In 2013, some 232 million people were international migrants, up from 175 million in 2000.

10. More than half of the global population is urban – and history’s largest-ever urbanization wave will continue for many years to come.

Click here for the full story.