Necessary investments

Realizing such a demographic dividend requires multiple intersecting investments. Yet the most essential, without which no progress will be made, are building the capabilities of people and ensuring their rights and freedoms to achieve their potential. Young people need the chance to gain the education and experience to succeed in a competitive global workplace that demands more skills, education and technical expertise than ever before.

Yet, the chance to realize their potential is derailed for millions of girls worldwide by child marriage, early and unplanned pregnancies, poor access to health care and limited education – just because they are female. For the country population as a whole, when many people find themselves trapped in this trajectory of restricted opportunities, poor health and limited capabilities, there can be no demographic dividend – an age structure with fewer dependents is unlikely to occur, and each person’s ability to achieve their capabilities, save and invest, be resilient in the face of climate change and crisis and take the risk to innovate will be permanently undermined. The fulfillment of sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, therefore, is not a side-line to inclusive national growth, it is essential for any society to achieve a demographic dividend.

History shows the real possibility of a missed dividend, as the chance for a country to reap a demographic dividend occur during a window of time that gradually closes as the working generation ages. During the late 20^th century demographic dividend window in Asia, GDP increased 7-fold, contributing to the “Asian economic miracle.” However, in Latin America, growth was only 2-fold, reflecting unequal access to investments in education and health, including the reproductive health and rights of women and girls.

What it takes

Capitalizing on the demographic dividend demands that each country understand the size and distribution of their population, the current and projected age structure and the pace of population growth. A growing number of analytic tools are available for such “population assessments”, thus shortening the time and resources needed for a situation analysis of national circumstances. National needs must be matched to a sequence of short- and medium-term investments that assure the rights of all young people to plan their lives, be free of violence and trauma, be assured of essential freedoms and reproductive rights and have access to quality education and mentoring.

Dividends will be constrained without simultaneous investments in decent job creation, good governance, infrastructure and a functioning business climate. But all progress will be constrained if the population is under-prepared, and every person – particularly every girl – cannot pursue her education or navigate her transition to adulthood assured of her human rights. Such assurance includes the freedom to decide when and whom to marry, the timing and number of children and the security to balance work and family life.

What is UNFPA doing?

UNFPA is founded on the premise that the rights and dignity of all people lie at the heart of development. That premise is reflected in a mandate to support countries in the realization of the ICPD Programme of Action (POA), which links investments in each human person, without discrimination, to the broadest realization of sustainable development. The commitment to human rights represents the distinct leadership that UNFPA brings to the demographic dividend. The realization of human rights underscores all UNFPA policies and programmes to build human capital in countries across the world.

UNFPA’s integrated and rights-based approach to development is not only essential to achieving a demographic dividend, but to achieving the unfinished Millennium Development Goals, the full implementation of the ICPD Beyond 2014 and the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs0. The draft outcome document for the UN Summit on the Post-2015 Agenda, adopted by the Plenary of the Intergovernmental process on 2 August 2015, identifies the importance and promise of reaping a demographic dividend for sustainable development, linked to people-centred economies that promote youth employment and women’s economic empowerment. The outcome document affirms the principles of human rights, fundamental freedoms, nondiscrimination and building human capabilities that reflect the core mandate of UNFPA, in implementing the ICPD POA and the ICPD Beyond 2014 Framework.

How UNFPA supports countries to seize the dividend

Strategic Assessment

· UNFPA offers a growing package of tools to rapidly characterize population typologies based on the census and population surveys, including age-structure patterns and projections, current rates of child marriage, unmet need for family planning, coverage and access to sexual and reproductive health and rights and sex differentials in schooling, among other factors.

· Supporting national policy reviews on relevant legislation and national action plans affecting rights-based human capital – e.g., status and enforcement of laws on child marriage, protection of women’s rights and youth policies, which form the basis of policy guidance on the deepening investments needed for a demographic dividend.

· Providing clear guidance on the “multiplier effects” of key investments and how support for the rights and capabilities of young people will address disparate targets across the SDGs – such as poverty, health, gender, employment, economic growth, inequality, data and sustainability – in an actionable and results-oriented way.

Building Human Capital

· UNFPA supports countries to fulfill the rights and participation of women and adolescent girls and deliver the sexual and reproductive health knowledge and services that have high multiplier effects for achieving a demographic dividend, including programmes for youth empowerment; improvements in maternal, newborn and child health; universal access to contraception; prevention and treatment of HIV and sexually transmitted infections and the elimination of gender-based violence and harmful practices such as child marriage.

· UNFPA’s combination of support for population assessments, policy advice and programming allows a rapid translation of national assessments into tailored guidance and technical assistance aligned with national circumstances.

Essential Partnerships

· UNFPA has a long historic presence in multiple countries across the world, resulting in strong partnerships and long-term capacity-building of national institutions. Few UN agencies operate across the development spectrum in the manner of UNFPA, allowing the Fund to convene other stakeholders (including the International Labor Organization, the President of the General Assembly, UNDESA and the World Economic Forum, among others), to advocate for investments framed by a rights-based demographic dividend both globally and in countries.

Last updated on 5 May 2016