At current growth rates, in about forty years' time the population of the world will have doubled. These countries are caught in a demographic trap. For too many of them the imbalance between the growth of their population and the growth of their economy makes a mockery of the concept of sustainable development in a sustainable environment. I'm afraid that's utopian wishful thinking. So all roads lead to one destination - family planning.
Family planning is the key to reaching a reasonable balance.
It is high time that governments recognized that and acted accordingly, in the interests of their country and their people, and that applies to international developmental planners too. It is our duty to inculcate that understanding, particularly into women everywhere, so that they can be firm in their demands for safe motherhood in the knowledge that beyond their own interests it will make a significant contribution to the development of the community and country in which they live. These reflections confirm my perspective that the human factor is the keynote to development. I cannot repeat often enough that family planning is a highly personal matter. If it is to succeed in achieving one of its goals, that is sustainable reproductive health in a sustainable environment, it has to be based on the feelings of people, not on the statistics of populations.