UN Population Fund calls for investing heavily in human capital development
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UNFPA’s Representative in Pakistan Dr Luay Shabaneh addresses the media during the launch of the State of World Population Report 2025 held in Islamabad on June 17, 2025. — pakistan.unfpa.org
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ISLAMABAD: The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has called on Pakistan to end the process of linking the National Finance Commission (NFC) award with population size, instead of distributing resources based on education, empowering women and human capital development.
Addressing a press conference here, UNFPA representative in Pakistan, Dr. Loo Shabnah, said that while population growth is often seen as a burden, the growing number of Pakistan should be considered an opportunity – this country has invested in its people.
He emphasized, “The NFC award will have to reward the provinces and districts that are investing in people, educate girls, reduce the number of children out of school, stop the gender gap, and empower women to decide when and how many children want them.”
According to UNFPA estimates, Pakistan’s population has reached 255.2 million in 2025, including 466 466 every year each year, or eight every minute.
Dr. Shabnhan explained that the challenge was not the size of the population itself, but the fact is that millions of people, especially women and girls, were denied freedom to choose reproductive.
The UNFPA state’s global population report titled 2025, titled “The real fertility crisis: acquisition of the reproductive agency in the changing world”, said that only one of the three women in Pakistan can make decisions about their reproductive health.
He remarked, “This is not a population crisis.
The report highlights that more than 18 % of girls in Pakistan were married before the age of 18, and the birth rate of adolescent is in 41 births at the age of 15-19. “Every 45 minutes, a woman dies of pregnancy complexity. Despite 32 % of married women, modern contraceptive users, more than 16 % do not need family planning.”
Dr Shabnia said those accused of growing population have been misled. “They are victims of a broken system,” he said. “This is not his fault – he was never given a choice. Failure is collective: Governments, global organizations and development stakeholders have not done enough work. “
He said that every year Pakistan sees about 9 million non -intentional pregnancy, there is a serious indication of how women have less control over their reproductive lives. “We need to educate married and unmarried people equally, so they can choose about family planning,” he added. Without this freedom, we cannot expect sustainable development. “
The UNFPA Yugov survey presented in this report shows that one in five people globally does not have the number of children with economic difficulties, housing problems, employment insecurity and gender inequality. One in three adults have experienced unannounced pregnancy, and 40 % report more than 50 people who want to help them because of the challenges.
The UNFPA has warned against forcibly or targeting fertility policies, and termed them ineffective and harmful. Instead, it advocates a rights -based approach that provides affordable health care, quality education, decent employment, gender equivalent laws, and social protection systems. The report states, “Whether people want many children or no, they deserve the systems that support their choice. There is no panic -driven policy.”
Dr. Shabnah confirmed the support of the UNFPA for Pakistan, saying that the agency is ready to help the country’s design solution, respecting the rights, enables reproductive choice, and turning its population into development success. “It’s time to invest in people, not count them.”
