Population and Poverty

Poverty has taken centre stage in development ever since it was raised as a priority global issue in the International Conferences in the 1990s and culminating in the Millennium Summit in September 2000 when world leaders pledged to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including the overarching goal of cutting poverty in half by 2015. The United Nations has been given an important role in ensuring integrated and coordinated assistance to developing countries in their efforts to reduce poverty and in their pursuit of the MDGs.

In this respect, UNFPA can play an important part in helping to achieve poverty reduction given the many links between poverty on one hand and population dynamics and structure, reproductive health, and women?s empowerment on the other, as discussed widely in this report. This report is based on an edited selection of presentations made at the Consultation organized by UNFPA in Princeton, New Jersey during September 30 -- October 2, 2002 to discuss the linkages between population, reproductive health, gender and poverty. The report reflects current thinking on the on-going dialogue on the above themes.