Nepal’s population hits 27 million mark

Nepal’s population has reached 27.1 million as of mid-October this year, a UN agency said.

Nepal’s population has reached 27.1 million, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

If the growth continues in the same rate, the global population will be over nine billion from 6.5 billion now and Nepal will have over 51 million people by 2050, a report launched by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) on Friday said.

The state of world population report 2005 entitled ‘The Promise of Equality: Gender Equity, Reproductive Health and the Millennium Development Goals’ coincides with the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Charter that enshrined equal rights of women and men and emphasised on empowerment of women through education, among others.

“Global efforts to make poverty history will fail unless world leaders act now to end gender discrimination,” the report said.

“Investing in women and young people who constitute the majority of the world’s population will accelerate long-term development. Failure to do so may entrench poverty for generations to come,” the UN agency said.

Releasing the report, Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare Durga Shrestha said at a time when the population is growing at an alarming rate, failure to manage it properly will invite serious problems.

UNFPA Representative in Nepal, Junko Sazaki, said the number of girl students enrolled in primary school had increased over the years. “The women literacy in Nepal was 26 per cent in 1991 while it is 60 per cent now.”

Nepal entered into a democratic era in 1990 after three-decade long absolute rule of the king.

Reports quoted Sazaki as saying that there was much more to be done to empower women, especially by educating them and protecting their fundamental rights like reproductive rights and rights to property. nepalnews.com by Oct 22 05