US urges women's power, targets pop. growth

WASHINGTON – The new U.S. ambassador for glo-bal women's issues pledged on April 23, 2009 the Obama administration's "deep commitment" to a U.N. blueprint aimed at slowing the world's population explosion and empowering women.

United Nations Foundation: thegirlfund.org

At the heart of the action plan adopted at a U.N. population conference in Cairo 15 years ago is a demand for women's equality through education, economic development, access to modern birth control, and the right to choose if and when to become pregnant.

Underlying the conference was the record growth in global population and research that showed that educated women choose to have fewer children.

In 1994, when delegates from 180 countries met in Cairo, the population was 5.7 billion. According to the latest U.N. estimates, it will hit 7 billion early in 2012 and top 9 billion in 2050. More>>

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