Since the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo on 1994, twenty years later (2014), world population has grown from 5.4 billion to 7.2 billion and 75% of this growth corresponds to Africa and Asia. Nevertheless the global demography has slowed, by the middle of this century could be 9.6 billion. However, there is demographic diversity greater than ever before in history. On one end there are the countries where fertility is still very high and it is a predominantly young population and rapid growth of the population. While at the other end there are the countries where fertility has fallen below the replacement level, resulting in rapid population ageing, in a small number of cases of the general population reduction.
Over the last twenty years, very few countries have met the objective outlined in Cairo by reducing by 50% the family planning agreed in 1999, it is urgent disseminate the information of these Conferences on Population and Development and there is counseling and voluntary family planning services around the world. Despite the progress achieved in increase in life expectancy over the last twenty years, the objective of 75 years has not been achieved by most of the countries and just 35% of countries with life expectancy between 60 and 75 years has achieved.
Neither the objective of reducing by 75% maternal mortality has not achieved, considering that is required the efforts to improve health and survival of women at all stages of their life, from childhood and adolescence, the years of work and reproductive activity, until maturity and old age.
On the other hand, international migration has increased in volume, scope, and complexity over the last two decades. Since the Cairo Conference in 1994, international migration flows have become more diverse and many countries which are places of origin, destination, and transit at the same time. Migration as a whole has become a component of change in the demography of certain developed countries, where it operates as mitigating in declining trend in the population. But cannot avoid in the long term the ageing trend in developed countries.
De facto situation is that the number of young people all over the world is increased in the last decades and it is expected to stabilize in the coming 35 years. Also expected that the number and proportion of older people to continue the upside. While half world’s population now live in urban areas and increase in crowds in big cities, half of urban residents live in cities and smaller towns and it is expected that urban areas absorb the future growth of the population so its control and organization has become one of the major challenges of the 21st century.
This demographic scenario can be summarized by its notable diversity and changes reflected in new concepts of maternity, marriage, mortality, migration, urbanization and ageing of the people. It is expected the size, structure, and distribution of the world population are different in the near future than they are today.
These changes originate another type of modifications in the social, economic, environmental, and regulatory field influencing at the same time on the global demographic process. In such a way a better understanding of this current situation and its projections in the immediate future could enrich the international debate on the formulation of the program for the Population Development after 2015.
The most visible conclusions is the human society is living a most noticeable transitional period, which its main traditional paradigms have disappeared, at the same time the myths are running out and regional cultures promoted heterosexual marriage and family life. But perhaps, the most noticeable fact is the new Z generation has been separating from feelings or emotions because the new way of communication with other people, where the oral words have been removed and persons do not see the face of their fellows, creating a different world and lack of emotions and feelings.
We do not know if that means living in a better or worse world, but undoubtedly it is different that took place in the last century. The only imperative thing in current society is to create new education systems, especially in the first years of the child’s life to create him an alternative moral conscience formed to earlier generations, whether by a religion or a conception of the world where negative and violent behaviors are fought.
Addendum: We do not know which regions of the world will achieve a peaceful coexistence in the shortest period of time, nor what will be the structure of the society in the immediate future which could survive a life without emotions and dreams. But, there is no doubt that human society will live many centuries more and it will find the optimal formulas will allow it to enjoy endless dimensions of love and art.