Press Conference of UNFPA and World Renowned Demography Experts

Yerevan, 19 October 2011 - Today, at Yerevan “Best Western Congress” Hotel, UNFPA Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Office with support of International Center for Human Development organized a press conference devoted to “7 Billion: Balance, Rights and Equity” three-day regional expert meetings launched the same day. The meetings will cover burning demographic issues for the region, such as fertility, migration, aging, and mortality.

Speakers of the press conference were Thea Fierens, Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, UNFPA, Zahidul Huque, Representative for Turkey and Country Director for Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, UNFPA, Anatoly Vishnevsky, Director, Institute of Demography, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, and Ella Libanova, Director, Institute for Demography and Social Studies, National Academy of Sciences, Kiev.

The speakers noted that during the “7 Billion: Balance, Rights and Equity” meetings that will run from 19 to 21 October, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, has brought together some of the most reputed international demographers to debate on the role of Eastern Europe and Central Asia in a world of 7 Billion people and on what countries in the region can do to address their population-related concerns.

“In the upcoming two days we think and we work and we analyze how to get better policies in place to address the issues of the growing or declining population”, said Thea Fierens.

Throughout the region, population decline, ageing, fertility, mortality and migration trends interweave to form an enormously heterogeneous demographic picture. In the European part of the former Soviet Union, population size is expected to fall by half over the course of this century. While the European part of the region is likely to see its population decline to half, Central Asia’s population is likely to grow by 50 per cent. The potential effects of such processes rise questions of national identity, security, migration flows as well as economic and overall development concerns.

On the third day of the conference, the experts will be joined by high-level officials from the Government of Armenia to discuss the country’s specific demographic challenges and effective policy responses for influencing them.

Link to UNFPA Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Office Press Release 

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.

For additional information please contact:

Mr. Mher Manukyan, Communication Assistant, UNFPA Armenia
E-mail: manukyan@unfpa.org
Phone: (+374 10) 54 34 17; (+374 77) 03 25 25