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This book examines the history behind the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of population policies from 1950 to today. Examines more developed, less developed, and the least developed countries at present as well as assessing their future prospects.

Annotation This text examines the history behind the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of population policies from 1950 to today. Examines more developed, less developed, and the least developed countries at present as well as assessing their future prospects.

Abstract
The UN Population Division currently projects the population of Sub-Saharan Africa will reach 4 billion by the end of this century, unless we see a sharp decline in the region's fertility rates. Although the region has embarked on its demographic transition, this process is occurring at a slower rate than in the rest of the developing world and seems to be stalling in several countries. The economic benefits that would follow from an acceleration of the fertility decline are now widely recognized but the SSA leadership is only slowly changing its attitude towards population issues. This paper's discussion of SSA population growth focuses on fertility, and the identification of factors that may lead to fertility decline, with particular attention to the direct influence of public institutions. These are the public institutions dealing with family planning programs or those designed to prepare and implement population policies and/or monitor the demographic dividend. Reviewing the experience of these institutions in the SSA context allows us to suggest ways to strengthen them with the view of accelerating the fertility transition in the region, opening a demographic window of opportunity, and capturing a first demographic dividend.

L'Union européenne (28 pays) et l'Europe dans sa totalité (48 pays et entités géopolitiques) ont terminé leur transition démographique. Elles connaissent actuellement une situation « post-transitionnelle » et sont confrontées à trois défis démographiques majeurs, à savoir une sous-fécondité n'assurant plus le remplacement des générations, un vieillissement de la population et l'immigration. En dépit d'attitudes de laissez faire de beaucoup de pays européens, plusieurs gouvernements ont adopté des politiques publiques pour gérer certaines ou toutes ces questions. Cependant, les politiques destinées à augmenter les niveaux de fécondité et celles s'attaquant aux défis du vieillissement ont donné des résultats quelque peu mitigés. Un problème urgent en Europe aujourd'hui est la gestion d'un grand nombre d'immigrants, et en particulier de réfugiés. Concernant cette question, les pays de l'Union européenne (UE) n'ont pas encore été capables de parvenir à un consensus politique fort. Néanmoins, étant donné leur statut « post-transitionnel », l'Europe et l'UE pourraient servir de laboratoire en matière de politiques publiques pour les autres parties du monde lesquelles, tôt ou tard, pourraient être confrontées à des défis démographiques semblables.

Intro -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- General Introduction -- The Overall Context of Population Policies -- Outline of the Handbook -- References -- Contents -- Contributors -- Part I: Theoretical Foundations -- 1: Contemporary Population Issues -- History -- From Precarity to Growth -- Growth Reversal and Population Aging -- The Demographic Dividend -- Fertility Stalls and Extremely Young Societies -- Migration: Global and Local -- Conclusion -- References -- 2: Population Policies Framework -- Introduction -- Types of Population Policies -- Explicit and Implicit Policies -- Policy Platforms and Suites of Policies -- The Importance of International and Regional Agreements for Shaping Population Policies -- Goals and Strategies of Population Policies -- Bringing Demographic Dynamics into Alignment with Development -- Population Policies Following ICPD -- Population Policies in the MDGs and SDGs Eras -- Choice of Policy Levers -- High Population Growth -- Family Planning, Reproductive Health, and Women´s Empowerment in High Fertility Countries -- Box 2.1: Population Policy in Bangladesh -- Harnessing the Demographic Dividend -- Box 2.2: Uganda´s 2020 Population Policy: Harnessing the Demographic Dividend -- Population and the Environment -- Migration -- Discomfort with the ``Population´´ in Population Policies -- Low Population Growth -- Box 2.3: Contrasting Approaches to Addressing Low Fertility -- Moving from Policies Addressing High Fertility to Low Fertility -- The Policy Process -- Policy Documents -- Policy Stakeholders and Institutions -- Box 2.4: Population Policy in Nigeria: Political Ambivalence and Weak Implementation -- Implementation -- Monitoring and Evaluation -- Conclusion -- References -- 3: Classical Foundations of Past and Present Population Policies -- Introduction.

This Handbook offers an array of internationally recognized experts essays that provide a current and comprehensive examination of all dimensions of international population policies. The book examines the theoretical foundations, the historical and empirical evidence for policy formation, the policy levers and modelling, as well as the new policy challenges. The section Theoretical Foundations reviews population issues today, population theories, the population policies framework as well as the linkages between population, development, health, food systems, and the environment. The next section Empirical Evidence discusses international approaches to design and implement population policies on a regional level. The section Policy Levers and Modelling reviews the tools and the policy levers that are available to design, implement, monitor, and measure the impact of population policies. Finally, the section New Policy Challenges examines the recurrent and emerging issues in population policies. This section also discusses prospects for demographic sustainability as well as future considerations for population policies. As such this Handbook provides an important and structured examination of contemporary population policies, their evolution, and their prospects.

Population issues and population policies have evolved considerably between the 20th and the 21st centuries. In the 1970s, most countries confronted rapid population growth, and this situation was particularly severe in Asia. Today, on the contrary, more than half of the world population is experiencing low fertility and population aging, and several countries with very low fertility are facing the prospect of depopulation. Only one region, i.e., sub-Saharan Africa, still experiences high fertility levels. Similarly, the discussions about whether and how to intervene on population trends have also evolved over the past 70 years. Demographically focused approaches to family planning provision were dominant views in the second half of the 20th century. However, since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994, international population policy paradigms have been reframed to stress the freedom of couples and the reproductive rights of individuals. Consequently, policy interventions have favored client-focused and gender-sensitive approaches. Finally, to help chart the way forward, population policies will need to consider several key elements, broadening from a focus on support for family planning to an array of policy instruments including health, education, and culture, all of which shape future populations. This new policy framework includes the prioritization of interventions, policy consensus building, the selection of priority constituencies, the institutionalization and funding of policies, and the promotion of evidence-based and research-driven policies. In addition, in order to adapt their interventions to local contexts, population policies will need to be holistic, to promote integrated interventions, and to align with international development frameworks.

AbstractTo accelerate their demographic transition, sub‐Saharan African (SSA) countries must trigger significant and rapid fertility declines. These fertility declines will open a demographic window of opportunity and enable countries to capture a first demographic dividend. Despite some successes, many programs aimed at decreasing fertility in SSA have yielded disappointing results. This commentary argues that better integrated policies will help to accelerate fertility declines in SSA. Such an approach should harness the synergies between a set of four key policy levers: women's empowerment; female education; family planning, reproductive health services, and universal health coverage; and legal reforms. These policy levers should be coupled with renewed commitment from leaders on the continent and increased investments in both family planning and population institutions. By concomitantly investing in these priorities and harnessing the synergies of these policy levers, countries in SSA have a critical opportunity to accelerate their demographic transition, which could help them reach emerging economy status.