Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Programs and Policies in a Demographically Divided World

Until recently, the global landscape of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) programs was characterized by concerns about rapid population growth caused by high fertility rates. Today, while high fertility persists in major countries like Pakistan, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Tanzania, the policy discourse is dominated by alarmist concerns about population loss caused by low fertility rates. Notably, in more than half the world’s countries, the average woman is having fewer than 2.1 children, which is the number of births necessary to maintain a stable population size. The policies and programs associated with countries with very low fertility are not only different from high fertility countries, but less understood. This Research Topic aims to explore the complex challenges and opportunities associated with SRHR in the context of these divergent demographic trends.According to the United Nations World Population Prospects (2024), 72 countries or areas of the world achieved a total fertility rate (TFR) of 2.1 or lower before 1994. Another 102 countries or areas will be at this replacement-level fertility before 2054. A third group of 63, largely sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, are projected to achieve such low fertility after 2054, and in some cases after 2100. Demographers have projected these changes for decades, but the extent to which birth rates have plummeted in some countries has been a surprise. The fact that women in South Korea, for example, are currently having so few babies (TFR of 0.78 in 2022), was not anticipated. Such hyper low fertility has dominated the policy discourse, raising questions about how to allocate scarce resources across the demographically divided world. Topic of interest to this Call include but are not limited to:• the demography of very low fertility;• the impact of very low fertility rates on society, economy, and public policy;• pronatalism and government policies that incentivize fertility, and effects of the policies;• human rights-based policies and programs in both low and high fertility settings;• the new world of biological and embryonic tech/policies;• the challenges faced by countries with high fertility rates in promoting family planning and reproductive health;• the role of international organizations in supporting global efforts to improve access to contraception and maternal healthcare services;• lessons drawn from relevant countries from the historical demography literature. Topic editors: Karen Hardee, Win Brown, Rajib Acharya Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/74369/sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-rights-programs-and-policies-in-a-demographically-divided-world