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Chapter 21 - Benefits and Costs of the Population and Demography Targets for the Post-2015 Development Agenda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 May 2018

Bjorn Lomborg
Affiliation:
Copenhagen Business School
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Summary

Prioritizing the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda on Population and Demography requires a recognition that national demographic trajectories are currently more diverse than in the middle and late 20th century. Wealthy countries of Europe, Asia and the Americas face rapid population aging, while Africa and some countries in Asia prepare for the largest cohort of young people the world has ever seen. And many of the world’s poorest countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, continue to face premature mortality, high fertility and often unmet need for contraception. The goal of this chapter is to discuss the Post-2015 Development Agenda in the area of Population and Demography, focusing primarily on aspects of population size, age structure and geographic distribution. Within population and demography, the priorities that have the highest benefit-cost ratios are: ● Achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services by 2030, and eliminating unmet need for modern contraception by 2040. ● A reduction of barriers to migration within low- and middle-income countries, as well as between low- and middle-income countries and high-income countries.
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Chapter
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Prioritizing Development
A Cost Benefit Analysis of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals
, pp. 375 - 398
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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