On the day the 7 billionth baby was predicted to be born, International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell spoke of DFID’s position on population- putting rights at the heart of the agenda.
‘It is not for DFID – or anyone – to say how many children people should have – that has to be a free choice,’ Mitchell began, before going on to explain some of the benefits of funding voluntary family planning.
‘Giving girls and women in developing countries the choice to decide whether, when and how many children they have is saving lives. It means fewer women die in childbirth and the poorest families can make what little they have go further. Family planning is a smart and extremely cost effective investment of aid.’
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/News/Latest-news/2011/Seven-billion-people-in-the-world/
Mitchell’s statement follows a recent speech by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, Stephen O’Brien, who reassured the All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health that the UK would not compromise its ethics when engaging with this issue.
‘First, – the Coalition Government does not support programmes that coerce individuals and couples to have fewer children. Population control, in the sense of government edicts and targets on fertility levels, has no ethical place in contemporary rights based development policy making. And secondly, we will not shy away from talking about population – about global population growth and its impacts.’
