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Free Malaysia Today
an hour ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Young delay starting families as rising costs bite
Deputy women, family and community development minister Noraini Ahmad said the government has implemented various initiatives to help young people build their families. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : The pressure of the rising cost of living is mainly why many youths choose to delay marriage and start a family, says deputy women, family and community development minister Noraini Ahmad. She cited a report by the United Nations Population Fund, which said nearly one in five adults across 14 countries acknowledged they may not be able to have the number of children they desire. 'Of this group, 39% cited financial constraints as the main barrier, including the cost of living, childcare, housing and job insecurity. This is where our responsibility lies: to listen, understand, and act,' Bernama reported her as saying at the 2025 World Population Day celebration today. She said the government has implemented various initiatives to help young couples build families in a more stable and structured environment. These include providing maternity and paternity leave, childcare subsidies, financial assistance for low-income families, and awareness programmes on reproductive and family health. On Malaysia's declining fertility rate, currently at 1.7 children per woman, below the population replacement level of 2.1, Noraini said the government is implementing a fertility treatment aid and infertility advocacy programme, targeting 30,000 couples this year. 'In the first quarter of 2025, only 93,500 births were recorded, a drop of more than 11% compared with the previous year. 'These numbers represent a growing urgency for effective policies, support systems and public awareness,' she said.
Arab News
14-07-2025
- General
- Arab News
Bangladesh's child marriage rate soars to highest in South Asia
DHAKA: The child marriage rate continues to rise since the COVID-19 pandemic, experts warn, as the latest UN data shows that more than half of Bangladeshi girls are married before reaching adulthood — the highest percentage in the whole of South Asia. Bangladesh has long had one of the world's highest rates of child marriage and, unlike other countries in the region, for the past few years has seen the situation worsening. According to the annual report of the UN Population Fund released last month, 51 percent of Bangladeshi girls are found to have been married before turning 18, the legal age for marriage. The rate was significantly lower at 29 percent in nearby Afghanistan, 23 percent in India, and 18 percent in Pakistan. 'Among South Asian countries, we are in a poor position when it comes to child marriage rates, even though we perform better on some other gender-related indicators set by the UN,' Rasheda K. Chowdhury, social activist and executive director of the Campaign for Popular Education, told Arab News. 'Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the child marriage rate in the country was around 33 percent. At that time, we were not the worst in South Asia in this regard. However, the pandemic disrupted everything.' Data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics shows a steady increase in child marriage rates of several percent a year since 2020, coinciding with pandemic lockdowns, which exacerbated poverty, disrupted education, and increased household stress. 'Our research found that COVID-19 increased poverty, interrupted education for both boys and girls, and worsened malnutrition. In this context, many guardians from underprivileged communities chose to marry off their daughters in hopes of reducing the financial burden on their families,' Chowdhury said. 'Poverty is the primary driver of early marriages, as many guardians are unable to cope with household expenses. As a result, they often choose to marry off their daughters at a young age.' Lack of women's access to education is usually seen as the main reason behind high child marriage rates, but Bangladesh has the highest enrollment of girls in secondary school in the whole region. 'Bangladesh has invested more in infrastructure development rather than human development,' Chowdhury said. 'To prevent early marriages, society must play a crucial role. The government alone cannot act as a watchdog in every household. Local communities need to take initiative and actively work to stop child marriages.' Azizul Haque, project manager at World Vision Bangladesh, also saw the problem as related to social awareness. 'In the villages and remotest parts of the country, girls are mostly considered a burden for the family, so the parents prefer to marry off the girls as soon as possible … In many of the remotest areas, there are schools that provide education only up to class eight, so after the completion of their eighth grade in school, many of the girls have nothing to do at home. This situation also triggers the increase in child marriages,' he said. 'There is a huge lack of social awareness. At the national level, we need to strengthen the mass campaign conveying the demerits of early marriages, so that everyone becomes aware of the negative impacts.'
Time of India
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Maha activist wins UN Population Award
Mumbai: Women's rights activist Varsha Deshpande, founder of the Dalit Mahila Vikas Mandal of India, has won the 2025 United Nations Population Award in the individual category. Deshpande was set to receive the award at the UN's New York headquarters on Friday. The only two earlier Indian recipients of the award in this category have been Indira Gandhi (in 1983) and JRD Tata (in 1992), while HelpAge India won in the institution category in 2020. A ground-breaking activist with more than 35 years of experience working on gender-based violence and against discrimination, Deshpande, who hails from Western Maharashtra, founded the Dalit Mahila Vikas Mandal in 1990 to advance women's rights. "She has worked to empower grassroots women by building their vocational skills, connecting them to vital resources and services, and fostering their financial independence," the UN Population Fund stated in a release. The UN Population Fund further stated that "at the helm of Dalit Mahila Vikas Mandal, Ms. Deshpande has spearheaded numerous programmes, including ones addressing child marriage through the empowerment of adolescent girls and engagement with men and boys; safeguarding the rights of women in the informal sector; and promoting joint property registration to boost women's access to assets. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo She is a respected member of various statutory bodies established by the Government of India and state-level governments, and has provided instrumental support for the law aimed at preventing gender-biased sex selection in India. " You Can Also Check: Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai Every year, the Committee for the United Nations Population Award honours an individual and/or institution to recognize their contributions to population and reproductive health issues and solutions. The award was established by the UN General Assembly in 1981 and was first presented in 1983. It is now in its fortieth year. It consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a monetary prize. The Committee for the United Nations Population Award is composed of a quorum of 8 UN member states, with United Nations secretary-general and UNFPA executive director serving as ex-officio members. The International Union for the Scientific Study of Population won this year's award in the institution category.
Scoop
10-07-2025
- Health
- Scoop
She Fought For The Girl The World Left Behind: Natalia Kanem's UN Legacy
She returns, over and over, to a single image: that of a ten-year-old girl – standing on the edge of adolescence, her future uncertain, and her rights still in grave doubt. 'Will she be able to stay in school, graduate, and make her way through the world?' Dr. Kanem wonders. 'Or is she going to be derailed by things like child marriage, female genital mutilation, or abject poverty?' That seismic question and that girl – not one child in particular, but an emblem of the millions worldwide whose future is at risk – have become the touchstone of Dr. Kanem's nearly eight-year tenure as Executive Director of the UN's sexual and reproductive health agency, formally known as the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). From her early days working on the frontlines in East Africa to overseeing a $1.7 billion agency with operations in more than 150 countries, Dr. Kanem has shepherded UNFPA through global shifts, political headwinds, and ideological pushback. Most of all, she has led a fierce revolution in the lives of millions of women and girls. This month, she is stepping down from her post ahead of schedule. 'It's time to pass on the baton,' the 70-year-old told her staff – a 5,000-strong workforce – in a videotaped address earlier this year. 'I have pledged to do everything in my capacity to keep positioning UNFPA to continue to do great things.' Roots and ascent Born in Panama and trained as a medical doctor, Dr. Kanem joined UNFPA in 2014 after a career in philanthropy. Her decision to serve 'the noble purpose of the United Nations' first led her to East Africa and Tanzania, where she was struck by the quiet heroism of field staff. 'It's really at the country level where we prove our worth,' she told UN News. But the job was not easy. In 2017, when she took the reins of the agency, Dr. Kanem inherited an organization grappling with waning visibility, unstable funding, and persistent pushback from conservative viewpoints. Still, UNFPA grew – not just in budget, but in stature. 'When I came, the narrative was, 'We're a small organization, beleaguered, nobody understands what we do,'' she said. 'Now, I think it's clearer.' That clarity came, in part, from what Dr. Kanem calls 'thought leadership.' Whether challenging misconceptions about fertility or confronting gender-based violence enabled by technology, she pushed UNFPA to the frontlines of global discourse. 'We exist in a marketplace of ideas,' she explained. 'And we have to tell the truth in a way that's compelling enough so we can garner the allies this movement requires.' Under her leadership, the agency trained hundreds of thousands of midwives, distributed billions of contraceptives, and expanded humanitarian operations to reach women and girls in the most fragile settings – from the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar to war-scarred Ukraine and cholera-stricken Haiti. UNFPA's presence in crisis zones was not only logistical, but symbolic. In Sudan, Syria, and Gaza, a simple tent stocked with menstrual pads, a blanket, and a bar of soap could serve as sanctuary. 'It represents the respite that a woman needs in a time of crisis,' she said. 'You know, we call our kits 'dignity kits' for that reason.' Shifting the conversation Beyond delivering services, Dr. Kanem elevated UNFPA's role as a thought leader in a polarised world. She steered the agency into difficult public conversations – about teen pregnancy, climate anxiety, fertility rates, and online harassment – with an unflinching insistence on rights. 'The 10-year-old girl exists,' she said. 'What her parents and her religious leaders and her community think is vital for her to be well prepared, for her to know what to do when she's challenged by coercive practices.' That leadership extended to data. Under Dr. Kanem, UNFPA invested heavily in supporting national censuses and building dashboards to help lawmakers shape reproductive health policy with real-time insight. This year's State of World Population report, the agency's annual deep dive into demographic trends, reframed conventional narratives around so-called 'population collapse' – noting that many women and men delay having children not out of ideology, but because they cannot afford to raise them. Dr. Kanem praised the altruism of young people who say they're choosing not to have children for fear of worsening the climate crisis. But that's not what the data shows. 'The world replacement fertility rate is not endangering the planet,' she explained. 'The facts really say: you can have as many children as you can afford.' A rights-based compass in turbulent times Dr. Kanem's tenure coincided with mounting attacks on reproductive rights, rising nationalism, and growing scepticism of multilateral institutions. She faced years of US funding cuts – including under the current administration – even as demand for UNFPA's services surged. 'UNFPA has more money than we've ever had,' she noted. 'But it's never going to be enough to stop the flow of need.' Resources alone won't secure the agency's future – credibility and persistence are just as vital. 'The multilateral system itself has come under question at a time when it is needed now more than ever,' she warned. 'We do have to prove ourselves each and every day. And when we make mistakes, we've got to get up and rectify them and find partners who are going to be allies.' One such partner has been the private sector. In 2023, UNFPA teamed up with tech firms to launcha development impact bond in Kenya, delivering mobile-based sexual health services to prevent teenage pregnancy and new HIV infections among adolescent girls. Changing mindsets UNFPA has long worked to end harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage. Under Dr. Kanem, that work became as much about shifting mindsets as changing laws. 'Yes, absolutely,' she said when asked if progress was real. 'It's been very important to see religious leaders and traditional leaders standing against certain practices… and to work with school systems so that the girls themselves will understand the risks and be able to take better decisions about their options.' The coronavirus">COVID-19 pandemic, she admitted, was a setback. With schools closed, some communities increased the number of weddings and FGM ceremonies. But in many countries – including populous Indonesia – UNFPA has seen the practice decline, in part thanks to youth advocates speaking out from within their own communities. New generation, next chapter Looking ahead, Dr. Kanem didn't dwell on uncertainty. She spoke instead of possibility. 'We've transformed ourselves, modernized ourselves,' she said. 'There's just unlimited possibility for UNFPA.' Her own future includes what she calls a 'mini-sabbatical' – more time for music, her family, and, finally, herself. But she won't stay silent for long. 'I know that my passion for issues of women and girls is not going to recede,' she said. 'It's been a labour of love.' Her parting thought? One final return to the girl at the centre of it all. 'When that 10-year-old girl succeeds, everyone succeeds,' she said. 'It is a better world.'
The National
07-07-2025
- Health
- The National
How the UAE is working to reverse its falling birth rate
Few decisions in life are as consequential – or as emotive – as whether to start or grow a family. For many couples, the intimately human desire to bring new life into the world often has to be weighed against some hard realities, particularly when it comes to the financial strains that can come with parenting. In a global report published last month, the UN Population Fund found that nearly 20 per cent of reproductive-age adults surveyed in 14 countries believed they will be unable to have the number of children they desire. In addition, nearly 40 per cent reported that financial limitations had affected or would affect their ability to have their ideal family. 'Millions of people around the world are unable to have the number of children they want – whether they want more, fewer, or none at all,' the report's authors added. The UAE is not immune from the wider demographic trend of declining birth rates; a recent meeting of the Federal National Council heard that there had been an 11 per cent drop in births among Emiratis between 2015 and 2022. But an examination of the country's response to this challenge shows that, when it comes to incentivising more young people to start families, the Emirates is focusing on more than just finances – it is building the sort of supportive society in which people feel empowered to take on the many ups and downs of parenthood. A statement sent to The National by Sana bint Mohammed Suhail, Minister of Family, has revealed some of the thinking behind this approach. 'Behind every data point is a young couple making decisions about marriage,' she said. 'A working mother balancing ambitions with nurturing. A father wanting to give more time but stretched by economic pressures. These are not only social realities – they are policy challenges, and more importantly, national opportunities.' Widespread and practical support for the social scaffolding necessary for parents to raise happy and healthy families is critical. This means accessible schools, high-quality health care and flexible employment. In this sense, Ms Suhail is right to describe this as a 'national opportunity' because it requires different branches of government and the private sector working together to improve and co-ordinate policy across all kinds of areas, all with the goal of supporting families. Plans for a national fertility strategy discussed at the FNC meeting have focused on improving the lives of young Emiratis rather than merely boosting population numbers. Indeed, such an approach is already in the works; Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, last year approved the Emirati Family Growth Programme 'to enhance family stability and reinforce community cohesion'. Part of the Abu Dhabi Family Wellbeing Strategy, it aims to help young people build stable families as a driver of economic and social development in the emirate. If it takes a village to raise a child, then the UAE is showing the wisdom of taking that approach to the national level As some western societies become more individualist and atomised, often with unrealistic ideas about family life, other societies in the Middle East and Asia remain resolutely focused on the importance of the family unit, something that perpetuates a sense of cohesion and continuity. This sense of family and togetherness may be one of the reasons that decision makers in the UAE are looking past hard numbers and general trends to appreciate the complexities of a challenge as human as raising family. If it takes a village to raise a child, then the UAE is showing the wisdom of taking that approach to the national level.
