States UNFPA report; minister Razzaque feels food security threatened
The country’s population is now 16.44 crore while the population growth 1.4 per thousand, said a UNFPA report.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) yesterday launched its world population report 2010. As for Bangladesh, Food and Disaster Management Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque unveiled the report “State of World Population 2010” at a city hotel yesterday. The theme of this year’s flagship publications was “From Conflict and Crisis to Renewal: Generations of Change.”
The UNFPA report also predicted that the population of the country would be 22.25 crore by 2050.
Ganesh Chandra Sarkar, director of Directorate of Family Planning, however, claimed at the report unveiling programme that the population of the country is around 14.4 crore. In the fourth Population and Housing Census 2001, the population of Bangladesh is stated 12.43 crore, he added.
According to the UNFPA report 2010, 28 percent people of the country live in urban areas where the population growth is 3.2 per thousand. The fertility rate in the country is 2.25 percent with 72 of every 1,000 female aged between 15 and 19 years’ old giving birth to their first child. Only 18 percent women of the country receive service from skilled attendants in their labour.
The mortality rates of under-five-year-old male and female in the country are 58 and 56 per thousand respectively while the infant mortality rate is 41 per thousand, said the report, adding that female life expectancy in the country stands at 68.1 years while 65.8 years for male.
The gross primary school-level enrolment rates for male and female stand at 89 and 94 percent respectively while it is 43 and 45 percent in high school level. The statistics shows that enrolment rate of girl students is higher than boys in primary and secondary level, the report added.
As per the report some 80 percent people have access to improved drinking water.
Food Minister Abdur Razzak, who was chief guest of the report-unveiling programme, said the booming population would directly affect the food security of the country. He expressed deep concern over the activities of the population control programmes and urged donor organisations to increase their assistance in population control.
“There is no “monga” (famine) anywhere in the country. The country has no alternative but to invest in agriculture to meet the growing demand of food.
Arthur Erken, UNFPA representative in Bangladesh, said, “This year’s report is about three Rs — resilience, renewal and redefinition of the roles of males and females.
“It shows that women are more resilient to disaster and conflict and can play a vital role in reconstruction, peace activities and recovery programmes when they get to practise their rights and opportunities,” said the country representative.
Prof Mehedi Ahmed Ansary of Bangladesh University Engineering Technology and Prof Mahbuba Nasrin of Dhaka University also addressed the launching ceremony.
The UNFPA country representative announced the names of UNFPA Media Award 2009 winners at the programme. The winners are Mahbuba Zannat of The Daily Star, Shahnaz Munni of ATN Bangla and Rita Bhowmik of Jai Jai Din. Sultana Rahman of Machranga TV also won a special award for a report on population growth aired on NTV.
