On 15 November 2022, the world鈥檚 population is projected to reach 8 billion people, a milestone in human development. This unprecedented growth is due to the gradual increase in human lifespan owing to improvements in public health, nutrition, personal hygiene and medicine. It is also the result of high and persistent levels of fertility in some countries.
The Panel Discussion on Migration and Sustainable Development-Opportunities and Challenges will be co-organized by the Division for Sustainable Development and the Population Division, DESA in the margin of the forty-sixth session of the Commission on Population and Development, to be held in New York on 22-26 April 2013.
The special theme for the forty-eighth session of the Commission on Population and Development, which will take place during 13-17 April 2015, will be 鈥淩ealizing the future we want: Integrating population issues into sustainable development, including in the post-2015 development agenda鈥�. In preparation for the Commission, this briefing will review the thematic reports of the Secretary-General that are under consideration by the Commission.
The question of how to feed a growing global population has been central to discussions around population and development for decades. While the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development highlighted the problem of undernutrition, today's discussion of malnutrition is broader and includes stunting, wasting, overweight and obesity, as well as micronutrient deficiencies. Moreover, there is an increasing recognition of the challenges to food security posed by factors such as climate change, conflict and economic downturns.
The world population is experiencing a historical shift in its age distribution, from the mostly young age structures of the past, towards larger proportions of middle-aged and older persons in the present and future decades. This shift is driven by the demographic transition from high to lower levels of both fertility and mortality. The social and economic consequences of these changes vary greatly across regions and countries.
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