The 8 billionth baby born in Ghana
Today, fifteenth November 2022, the worldwide inhabitants has turned 8 billion. This morning, the symbolic welcome of the 8 billionth baby born in Ghana has been organized on the Ridge Hospital in Accra. This was by way of the collaborative effort of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), Ghana Health Service (GHS), National Population Council (NPC), the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS) and the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), with assist from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). We commend the collaborative efforts of those organizations and establishments, and the administration and workers of the Ridge Hospital particularly these of the Maternity Unit of the hospital for the profitable supply of this symbolic 8 billionth little one in Ghana.
We warmly welcome this little one to Ghana and pray for a wholesome progress and wellbeing all through his/her whole life in Ghana and the world at massive. We additionally congratulate the mom that gave beginning to this little one.
About UNFPA:
UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive well being company. UNFPA’s mission is to ship a world the place each being pregnant is needed, each childbirth is protected and each younger particular person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA requires the conclusion of reproductive rights for all and helps entry to a variety of sexual and reproductive well being providers, together with voluntary household planning, high quality maternal well being care and complete sexuality training.
Permit me to return into historical past to refresh our minds on how the worldwide inhabitants has grown over time. It is recorded that the worldwide inhabitants hit one billion in 1804 and after that it took 123 years so as to add one other billion to it in 1927. Interestingly, the world’s inhabitants hit the third billion in 1960 in simply 33 years. It is additional recorded that the world inhabitants reached 4 billion in 1974, taking solely 14 years so as to add one other billion to its dimension in 1960. Since then, the worldwide inhabitants has continued to extend and was recorded to be 5 (5) billion on eleventh July 1987 (13 years), six (6) billion on twelfth October 1999 (12 years) and 7 (7) billion on thirty first October 2011 (12 years) and right now, fifteenth November 2022, we’re recording 8 billion (11 years).
The United Nations Population Division estimates that the worldwide inhabitants will attain 9 billion in 2037 (15 years) and 10 billion in 2058 (21 years). In 2030 when the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are anticipated to have been realised, the world’s inhabitants is estimated to succeed in 9.7 billion and in 2050 we should always count on 10.4 billion to reside on this planet.
In Ghana, our inhabitants, which was reported at 6.7 million in 1960 has additionally grown to hit 30.8 million in 2021. Indeed, it has traversed the milestones of 8.6 million in 1970, 12.3 million in 1984, 18.9 million in 2000 and 24.8 million in 2010. This means that Ghana’s inhabitants has elevated virtually five-fold since 1960 in a interval of 61 years. The estimates from the Ghana Statistical Service and our inhabitants institutes counsel that by 2030, i.e., seven (7) years from now, our nation’s inhabitants will attain 37.5 million.
What do these numbers imply for us as a rustic? Admittedly, extra numbers imply a larger work power and a capability to supply items, wealth and providers for the nation’s progress and improvement. While that is optimistic, this doesn’t routinely occur however demonstrates that there’s work to be achieved to translate these rising numbers into a great human useful resource with the capability to remodel the nation from a decrease middle-income standing right into a excessive revenue one. This demonstrates the central place of inhabitants in our nation’s socio-economic improvement in all sectors. This requires strategic funding in training, well being, job creation, surroundings and sanitation, and the financial wellbeing of every particular person Ghanaian that’s born.
We additionally have to strengthen efforts in the direction of empowering girls and women, in explicit, to resolve if, when, how typically, and the variety of births they’d want to have with out bowing to any societal pressures to do something on the contrary. This signifies that we should as a nation strengthen household planning and reproductive well being programmes to make sure that no girl loses her life when bringing forth one other life. While toddler and under-5 mortalities have diminished considerably from 77 and 155 per 1,000 reside births in 1988 respectively to 21 and 33 per 1,000 reside births in 2021, a maternal mortality ratio of round 300 per 100,000 reside births and contraceptive unmet want of just about 25% must be of concern to all of us. There are additionally severe considerations about teenage pregnancies, little one marriages and sexual and gender-based violence occurring in the nation regardless of having legal guidelines and insurance policies towards these acts that debase our human dignity as a individuals.
We should additional pay attention to the truth that Ghana is more and more turning into extra city by our inhabitants distribution. The 2021 Population and Housing Census reported that the proportion of the inhabitants that’s city is now 56.7%, in comparison with 23.1% in 1960 and 50.9% in 2010. Ordinarily, this improvement must be optimistic since urbanisation must be accompanied with some degree of spatial and livelihood improvement for the inhabitants. However, in our case, urbanization is extra accounted for by rising variety of individuals in a locality past 5,000 however not with commensurate improvement attributes relative to social infrastructure and livelihoods empowerment. Rather, extra city settings are related to poor housing and slum situations, poor sanitation, restricted entry to improved water sources, will increase in crime and poverty. According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, Ghana’s housing inventory deficit was 1.8 million though that is decrease than the 2010 recorded deficit of two.7 million. There can also be rising environmental degradation primarily by way of the actions of unlawful mining actions aptly described as “galamsey” throughout the nation, ensuing in the destruction of our water our bodies, farmlands and forestry reserves. The “galamsey” menace ought to not to addressed with lip service however with a renewed willpower to crack the whip no matter who’s concerned, devoid of partisanship and selectivity.
We have additionally noticed the altering age construction of the nation from a really broad-based inhabitants pyramid in the Sixties to 1 which is witnessing an rising dimension of the aged inhabitants with a shrinking base. This means that fertility has declined over time and life expectancy at beginning has additionally elevated, and there are indicators of inhabitants ageing. At the identical time, about 80% of the nation’s workforce is in the casual financial sector, typically with no formal social safety assist after retirement. The implications are that many aged persons are dwelling with little or no social assist methods, thereby condemning a lot of them into life-long poverty after their retirement. Unfortunately, it’s throughout these durations that degenerative ill-health situations enhance, a lot of them bothering on incapacity and psychological well being challenges.
The altering age construction additionally reveals that the nation is more and more depicting a youth bulge and a possibility to reap the advantages of the demographic dividend by way of elevated funding in training particularly related abilities coaching and job creation. Already, there’s excessive youth unemployment in the nation and that might outcome in a youth “bomb” if the scenario of youth joblessness continues.
As one of many international locations that has endorsed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in September 2015 (Agenda 2030), we have to proceed to work tirelessly in the direction of their attainment. It have to be famous that every of the 17 SDGs relate straight or not directly with inhabitants and, subsequently, efforts in the direction of realising them must be located inside methods which might be geared in the direction of making certain that the standard of lifetime of the inhabitants is more and more enhanced. This calls for correct monitoring of progress being made in the direction of reaching the SDGs utilizing related information to measure the milestones relative to all the precise targets related to every SDG. This requires correct and well timed information to commonly gauge progress being made. Thankfully, the Ghana Statistical Service has efficiently given us monumental information from the 2021 Population and Housing Census to help us with key indicators on the nationwide and sub-national ranges to measure progress throughout all sectors.
Let me recall the significance the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) positioned on inhabitants in the context of improvement. The convention really helpful that in all improvement planning efforts, inhabitants variables must be central. We, subsequently, name on all ministries, departments and companies (MDAs) in addition to the personal sector to make sure that in all their programming actions, the inhabitants of Ghana must be on the centre both as an important useful resource to generate productiveness and wealth or the first beneficiary of the result of improvement efforts.
There can also be an pressing have to bridge the hole between analysis and coverage. In this context, we invite our Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to roll out methods to persistently base their coverage and planning resolution making on information at their areas of operation. Research establishments are additionally referred to as upon to develop useful working relations with coverage and resolution makers at nationwide and sub-national ranges to help in reshaping coverage by way of their operational analysis actions.
Let me conclude by re-emphasising the significance of right now because the world turns 8 billion. It is a day we as a nation should resolve as to how we translate our rising numbers into prospects whereas acknowledging the challenges we face and advance concrete cures to handle them. We shouldn’t simply rejoice the beginning of the 8 billionth baby however guarantee him/her and all others of our collective resolve to make this nation a snug place for everybody to be nurtured to develop into a great human useful resource for the nation’s improvement, the advantages of which is able to in flip inure to everybody’s profit, thereby leaving nobody behind.
Source: Ghana Statistical Service
