World Population Day:- Attaining
Balanced Population Growth Pakistan's progress on most health, education, and
demographic indicators has slowed down according to the Population Census 2017
and the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) 2017-18. These trends
signify a worsening of existing inequalities and imbalances, threatening the
country's shrinking resource base as well as its future prosperity. The
situation warrants urgent corrective actions at all levels of State and
society.
As a key measure, Pakistan must
lose no further time in joining the countries of the region and the Muslim
world in achieving a rate of population growth that is sustainable. This will
have to be much lower than the current (1998- 2017) high growth rate of 2.4%.
In this regard, a National Task Force constituted by the Supreme Court has
already identified eight broad sectors and thirty-three specific
recommendations for implementation by Provincial Governments, regions and the
Federal Government. These recommendations have been endorsed by the Supreme
Court and approved by the Council of Common Interest (CCI) chaired by the Prime
Minister of Pakistan.
The idea of balanced population
growth has historically evoked disparate, ambivalent and often negative
responses in the country .The endorsement by all concerned of a new
"national narrative" is, therefore, the first of the Task Force's
recommendations under "Advocacy and Communication".
Pakistan is a uniquely created,
richly diverse nation-state with enormous potential but it currently ranks
150th among 189 countries on the Human Development Index 2017. There is a need
to eliminate preventable maternal and neonatal deaths, ensure adequate
nutrition and education for all, provide access to clean water, and eradicate
poverty.
National Narrative on Population:- Parents have
the right to freely and responsibly decide the number and spacing of their
children to fulfil the fundamental rights of their children and family by
maintaining a Balance/Tawazun between their family size and resources. The
Government and society have the responsibility to facilitate parents to achieve
this balance by providing universal access to family planning information and
services, thereby achieving sustainable development.
Sustainable population growth
means growth in which this tawazun is maintained. It must prevail, at the macro
level, between essential human goals and population numbers; the numbers and
quality of citizens; natural resources and the people they sustain. At the
micro level, tawazun must be attained between the births of children and their
mother's capacity to recuperate and breastfeed them; between the size of the
families and their capacity to ensure the rights of each member. All eminent
religious scholars the world over have endorsed birth spacing as one way to
ensure balanced family size.
While family size remains a
private choice, separate from the public domain, parents' right to have as many
children as they desire must be balanced with their responsibility to ensure
that each child is brought up under the care of a healthy mother. Certainly,
family planning and birth spacing should be driven by informed choice and free
will, and not coercion. But the State is responsible for fulfilling all
citizens' rights to the information and to the services they need in order to
make, and act on informed choices.
Balanced population growth
ensures wellbeing, prosperity, safety and security which is the common
aspiration of the people of Pakistan. The attainment of this imperative goal is
possible through three inter-linked principles:
Rights:- The first principle recognizes that all
citizens of the country have fundamental rights, which are enshrined in all
religious teachings, the Constitution of Pakistan and the international
covenants (ICPD, FP2020, SDGs) to which Pakistan is a signatory. This includes
the right to adequate shelter, nutrition, health and family planning,
education, employment opportunities and gainful livelihoods to improve the
quality of life.
Responsibilities:- The second principle is the
recognition that, to attain these rights, individuals, and parents as well as
the State have distinct responsibilities to fulfill. Parents ought to act
responsibly and have the number of children they can provide with the basic
rights and needs, e.g., nutrition, health, and good upbringing, while the State
remains responsible for providing necessary services and resources, such as
family planning and health services, quality education, proper housing, and job
opportunities.
Balance-Tawazun:- The third principle recognizes
the need to strike a balance, or tawazun, in all aspects, especially between
rights and responsibilities. This implies a tawazun between population growth
and available resources and regenerative capacity."Tawazun" is
intrinsic in Nature and commanded in Islam and other faiths as a prerequisite
for peace and well-being.
On World Population Day 2020,
Pakistan Post is issuing a Commemorative Postage Stamp of Rs 20/- denomination
on July 11, 20
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