Journey

“First published in 1987, this book is about the challenge posed by the unprecedented growth of the world’s population and the response that has been made to that challenge by the United Nations and its system of agencies.

It focuses in particular on the creation, in 1969, of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) as the principal instrument for the United Nations’ population programmes and on the work undertaken by the United Nations and its specialized agencies, including the World Bank, in this field.

A substantial part of the book is devoted to discussing the actual achievements, in terms of demographic policies and falling birth rates, which have been realised in different parts of the developing world.

At a time when there is a good deal of criticism of the United Nations and its agencies, this book makes it clear that here at least is one area where the world organization is continuing to make an important contribution towards the solution of the most important problem of our time.“

World Population and the United Nations

This work recounts the successful story of national and international approaches to the population question from the 1960s to the present, and examines the progress made in reducing rapid rates of population growth and high levels of fertility.

It describes the evolution of national population policies by governments, their aims, successes and shortcomings, and explores the emergence of international agencies seeking to reinforce and underpin those commitments.

This study draws on documents and sources, and assesses the achievements of the 1974 Bucharest World Population Conference, the 1984 International Conference on Population in Mexico and the several major national and international initiatives that followed them, up to the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio.

The book examines the prospects for a new international consensus in population, and considers the preparation for the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994. The text is supplemented with annex materials.

World Population - Turning the Tide

“Initially published in 1982 as The Marburg Virus, Johnson’s The Virus reveals uncanny parallels with the current corona virus: the outbreak of a mysterious and deadly disease, the origins of which are traced to a medical student infected by a green monkey. It features an epidemiologist as its hero and a desperate search for a vaccine…
In the afterword to his re-released The Virus Johnson, 79, says, ‘Will the fight again COVID-19 be as successful as my fictional hero was in fighting the Marburg Virus?…Thinking back to my own book, and its eventual happy ending, I can’t help feeling that Governments around the world, our own included, need to be ruthlessly focussed on the search for an antidote or a vaccine. Without in any way diminishing the importance of precautionary measures of containment or mitigation, mass immunization would surely prove a crucial factor in stopping the spread of COVID-19 or in preventing further outbreaks, e.g. the “second wave” we are hearing about’.”

The Virus

This is an account of the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development and of its significance. From the Conference emerged a programme of action which aims to tie population policies to development and the role of women and to reduce the rate of population growth.

The book recounts what actually happened at the Conference, focusing on the central issues and the way in which attempts were made to reconcile opposing positions so as to achieve concensus on an effective programme of action.

It also takes a much wider perspective on the whole population debate, arguing that the Cairo conference represents a “quantum leap” in the way that the population issue is now seen.

The Politics of Population

This natural change, the difference between the current birth rate and death rate, is also reported to be responsible for over 52 per cent of our population’s growth.

“The harsh truth is that, in vast areas of the globe, birth-rates remain much too high and per capita incomes ridiculously low.”

Stanley Johnson, 2015

Immigration will be the only driver of population growth from 2030 onwards, according to official projections.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that fewer births and lower-than-expected life expectancy would end “natural” population growth.

By 2025 there will be more deaths than births, leaving net migration as the only factor that raises the number of people living in the UK.

James Robards, from the ONS, said analysts had revised their assumptions in the light of new data on fertility and mortality. “Given a higher number of deaths and fewer births are projected, net international migration is expected to play an increasing role in population growth,” he said.

Overall, millions fewer people will be living in the UK by 2045 than expected.

The Times