Minister Seán Fleming launches UNFPA 2023 State of World Population report
- Published on: 14 November 2023
- Last updated on: 12 April 2025
Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, Seán Fleming, today launched the UNFPA 2023 State of World Population report, ‘8 Billion Lives, Infinite Possibilities: The Case for Rights and Choices’.
The report highlights the need for reproductive services that are affordable, accessible and meet international standards of quality. It also warns against overly simplistic analysis of population trends at a time when some areas of the world are experiencing high growth while other areas are projected to experience population decline due to low birth rates.
Worldwide, fertility has fallen from an average of 5 births per woman in 1950 to 2.3 births per woman in 2021. Overall fertility is projected to fall to 2.1 births per woman by 2050.
Speaking at the launch, Minister Fleming said:
“I have recently returned from a visit to Uganda and Ethiopia, where I was struck by the multiple factors that leave young girls at risk of early pregnancy. This often forces them out of education and significantly limits their potential.
“We have recently strengthened Ireland’s partnership with UNFPA in line with our renewed focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights in our work around the world. This year, Ireland has joined the UNFPA’s supplies partnership programme, which helps to make contraceptives and life-saving maternal health medicines available for women in low income countries. The programme will help to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies for women and adolescent girls. This will contribute to better health, education and economic outcomes for women and their families.”
The launch event was chaired by Senator Lorraine Clifford Lead, Co-Chair of the All-Party Oireachtas Group on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, hosted by Dublin City University’s School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, and organised by UNFPA’s Irish partner, the Irish Family Planning Association. The event attracted the attendance of TDs, Senators, students, academics and NGO representatives.
The United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. The agency actively promotes gender equality and works to end un-met need for family planning, preventable maternal death and harmful practices including child marriage and female genital mutilation, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Launched in 2019, Ireland’s policy for international development, A Better World, had a renewed emphasis on gender equality, women’s empowerment and sexual and reproductive health and rights, especially in humanitarian settings. Ireland has provided €8.4 million in funding for UNFPA in 2023.