The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (“DESA”) has an online resource called ‘World Population Prospects’ where anyone can view graphic representations of the UN’s demographic profiles and probabilistic projections data. You can view the data for an individual country as well as prescribed groups or regions.
Notably, according to DESA, there is a dramatic drop in the working-age population of “developed regions” of the world beginning in c.2025. DESA describes “developed regions” as comprising Europe, Northern America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
The UN system has long been involved in addressing population and interrelated issues – notably, through the work of the UN Population Fund (“UNFPA”) and the UN Population Division of DESA.
So, we have to ask whether the UN is “predicting” a dramatic drop in the working-age population or if it is displaying the hoped-for result of a planned depopulation programme.
The Cairo Plan
UNFPA started operations in 1969 and assumed a leading role within the UN in promoting population programmes. At the International Conference on Population and Development (“ICPD”) in Cairo in 1994, its mandate was fleshed out in greater detail and UNFPA was given the lead role in helping countries carry out the Conference’s Programme of Action.
According to a 2007 report for the US Congress, the UN agency which was established in 1969 was the world’s largest source of population and reproductive health programmes. The US, with support from Congress, was an important actor in the launch of UNFPA.
In its first 25 years, UNFPA moved from an organisation focused on statistical collection and analysis to an agency providing maternal and child/health family planning assistance. The report noted: “While UNFPA receives voluntary contributions from many countries and some private foundations, most of its income comes from a handful of donors. The Netherlands and Japan have recently been its largest contributors.”
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