Fostering opportunities to ensure that people are at the heart of the development agenda

The best way to guarantee sustainability is by planning for it and putting people at the center of the development agenda. Globally, states have widely recognized the importance of population dynamics and the role that demographic change challenges play. These insights reveal essential data for providing timely responses to population trends, such as areas where progress is being made, where the true needs lie, and how to foresee what's to come.

For the past 30 years, UNFPA has played a significant role, assisting countries in developing their capacities in data collection and analysis, and participating in national, regional, and global dialogues. The insights it provides contribute to the generation of solid policies, resulting in a better quality of life for people.

The work of UNFPA is fundamental for achieving the goals set by the international community in terms of eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development. This involves taking into account factors such as the growing number of young people, population aging, internal and international migration, urbanization, and issues related to fertility.

Governments need to collect information, monitor, and analyze demographic trends to incorporate them into all aspects of national planning. As a result, political will is generated, providing the state with the tools to address the current and future needs of its population.

It is estimated that the total population of Latin America and the Caribbean will exceed 630 million people in 2015, approximately 8.6% of the world's population, despite the region occupying 13.5% of the planet's surface.

Our Challenge

Latin America and the Caribbean is a young region, with an average age of 29 and a half years, very similar to the global average. The population distribution is predominantly urban, and it is estimated that currently 80% of the region's population resides in cities.

The region exhibits a wide diversity of patterns. These impose specific challenges for public policies, both economic and social. Hence the importance of considering the implications of demographic change in the design, implementation, and evaluation of public policies.

Policies promoting development, poverty reduction, and social inclusion must foster equal opportunities and rights between men and women. This requires the will to promote higher levels of education, employment, and social protection, and to incorporate mechanisms that guarantee universal access to health, including sexual and reproductive health services and supplies.

The central challenge of analyzing the existing link between population and development consists of translating the information produced by countries through censuses, household surveys, and administrative records into evidence that can improve the design of policies for the inclusive and sustainable development of the region's populations.

For the United Nations Population Fund, the following factors have been identified as key challenges in terms of population and development:

Socioeconomic Inequality: Latin America and the Caribbean exhibit the highest levels of socioeconomic inequality in the world. Different rates of demographic transition have resulted in unequal population structures. Groups with better socioeconomic conditions live longer and control their fertility, while poor, indigenous, and Afro-descendant people, with lower educational levels and residing in rural areas, have more children and lower life expectancy.

Developing Youth Potential: Creating conditions for young people to fully develop their potential, amidst unequal access between capabilities and opportunities. There are also challenges associated with participation and labor market integration, as well as the effects associated with migration and violence, which hinder the effective contribution of young people to the progress of our region.

Inequalities in Reproductive Health: Access to modern contraceptives, adolescent pregnancy, and access to quality sexual and reproductive health services are some disparities that pose a challenge for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Opportunity

The region is experiencing a moment when the proportion of people between 15 and 60 years old is growing steadily, relative to those under 15 and over 60 (dependent population). This transitional stage places the region in the moment of the so-called "demographic dividend," where the percentage of the population of working and productive age is more than double that of the dependent population.

To take advantage of this situation, adequate capacities and the creation of opportunities are required, allowing society to optimize the benefits of having a larger proportion of the population capable of working, producing, saving, and investing. This implies that more resources must be available to invest sustainably in youth and in social policies that improve conditions, through a new population structure and composition.

Our Strategy

UNFPA seeks to strengthen national policies and international development agendas by integrating evidence-based analysis on the relationships between population dynamics, sustainable development, sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV, and gender equality.

To achieve this, the following purposes have been outlined:

1. Strengthen national capacities for the production and dissemination of quality disaggregated data on population and development issues, enabling the mapping of demographic disparities and socioeconomic inequalities.
2. Increase the availability of evidence based on rigorous and innovative analyses of population dynamics, sexual and reproductive health, HIV, and their relationships with poverty eradication and sustainable development.
3. Strengthen the capacity for formulating and implementing policies based on a human rights, gender, and intercultural approach that integrate evidence on population dynamics, sexual and reproductive health, HIV, and their relationships with sustainable development.

UNFPA, through its experience and advocacy work, provides countries with the necessary inputs to fulfill the commitments they have undertaken, such as the Programme of Action on Population and Development after 2014 and the Sustainable Development Goals in the Post-2015 Agenda.

Information, education, and communication services on population and development issues, through various technical assistance platforms, allow decision-makers, organized civil society groups, and citizens to understand the importance of population phenomena and how these create opportunities for development.

With UNFPA's assistance, legislation on population is formulated and revised, as well as the design of public policies consistent with our times, where the most important thing is to ensure that every person, especially women, youth, and adolescents, has the necessary tools to develop their potential and live life to the fullest.  

More Highlights

• Guide for Population Situation Analysis
• United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
• The State of World Population 
• Link to UNFPA's global Population and Development page
• Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE) - Population Division
• Regional Indicator Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean
• Latin American Population Association
• First Meeting of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean - Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development
• A New Global Partnership: Eradicating Poverty and Transforming Economies through Sustainable Development