UNFPA is advocating advocating for a lifecycle approach that invests in women so that their health, education and other needs, are equitably invested in by governments throughout their life
Nations across the world reacted predictably to the conclusion of the UNFPA’s Global State of the World’s Population Report released last month, some with a sense of alarm, and others with the assurance of having fast-tracked policies to improve declining populations. The media mostly headlined falling fertility rates. But the real fertility crisis, said Pio Smith, Asia-Pacific Regional Director for the UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health and rights agency, is one of agency.
“It is not about too many or too few births. At the UNFPA, we’re looking at those fertility outcomes that are shaped by a range of different factors,” he told journalists on the sidelines of the 3rd Ministerial Conference on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, held in Bangkok late last month. “There have been many demographic alarm bells, about falling population rates, and some have missed the mark. And there have been anticipatory responses, and some have been effective and some less so. And they varied, I would say, across regions and across the globe. Very often, what we see at UNEPA is that, the headlines, the policymakers too often frame the decline in fertility rates as the result of deliberate choice.”
“At the UNEPA, we are unmasking that to say, very often, it is women who are too seldom able to make voluntary informed choices about their reproductive opportunities. Particularly when you look at, you know, about a quarter of women are unable to say no to sex,” he added.
The report underlined that women are, all too often blamed for these demographic shifts. Some governments are employing drastic measures to incentivise young people to make fertility decisions in line with national targets. But the real crisis is that the most consequential reproductive decision a human being can make – when, whether and with whom to have a child – is being undermined.
The ‘alarm bell’
It is true, Mr. Smith adds, that it falling fertility is often the face of a woman. It begins with the lack of equality and equity that is afforded to girls and women from the beginning of life.
“And that’s the alarm bell. That she is unable to exercise her choice and decide whether she wants to have a family. And if she does, is she able to do so in an economically and socially responsible and acceptable way?” Mr. Smith answered that himself: “That’s why at the UNFPA, we’re advocating for a lifecycle approach that invests in women so that their health, but also their education and other needs, are equitably invested in by governments throughout their life.”
The UNFPA is tasked with working with governments in nearly 150 countries across the world to provide real support to people to form the families that they want to, resting on a rights-based approach to fertility. So what is this ‘real support’ and what does a rights-based approach entail?
A rights-based approach
Mr. Smith lists these as cost of living, gender norms, social pressure, and uncertainty about the future – including about wars, conflicts, and pandemics. “The urgency is really clear for us – demographic transitions are accelerating, but people’s choices are increasingly constrained,” he says. In effect, real support is not ‘about baby bonuses or coercive policies’.
“It’s actually about providing support that empowers people to help create the families that they want. That includes various elements like affordable housing, childcare, decent work, and equitable pay. It’s also about parental leave for all parents and all families. It’s about accessible fertility care, reproductive health services also that are accessible, particularly to our adolescents,” Mr. Smith listed.
The UNFPA is also advocating among member countries to provide better support and legal recognition for all family types. Same-sex couples face certain legal and social barriers to full access. In this context, the social aspect is almost more important because legal conditions can be created, but social barriers may still stymie equal access. So acting on the social conditioning too is important.
“We are calling on governments to invest in rights-based systems, that would enable reproductive autonomy, regardless of a country’s fertility rate. We have a programme around demographic resilience (2:05) and that offers policy support to help governments harness the opportunities that are available to them and that come with demographic change,” according to Mr. Smith.
He added that it would not be good enough just to have a policy. “You need leadership that is going to be courageous and that’s going to have the foresight to look into these demographic changes. They also have to make sure that the policies are responsive, and that they’re investing.”
(The reporter was at the 3rd Ministerial Conference on CRVS held in Bangkok at the invitation of UNESCAP)
Published – July 11, 2025 10:18 am IST
