Senior politicians in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Saturday called for measures to cut the birth rate in the region in order to bring the population explosion there under control.

Deputies of ECOWAS, Mauritania and Chad should be aiming to cut back the birth rate to three children per woman, said Salifou Diallo, Burkina Faso’s speaker of parliament.

The idea, he said, was to cut the birth rate in half by 2030, in a region that has the highest fertility rates in the world.

He called for countries to adopt measures including universal access to family planning, improved education for women and better health care of children, to bring about “a rapid, voluntary decline” in the birth rate.

With an average fertility rate of 5.6 children per woman, the highest in the world, the population in the 15-nation West African regional bloc will reach a billion people by 2050 if no changes are made, according to UN estimates.

“We are in a situation of uncontrolled demography and we cannot hope for development with such a situation,” Diallo warned.

“It is urgent to contain the demographic push in the ECOWAS space to promote real, viable and durable development.”

“Young people represent two thirds of the population,” said Marcel De Souza, president of the ECOWAS Commission.

“This youth, when it doesn’t find any solutions, becomes a bomb: they cross the desert or the Mediterranean, die by thousands through clandestine immigration,” he added.

Adrien Houngbedji, president of Benin’s parliament, said the region’s politicians must decide themselves on the balance between controlling the birth rate and improving the quality of life.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/07/ecowas-leaders-call-w-african-birth-rate-halved/

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This is interesting all these measures are cool but if they want to cut birth rate improve your economy. When wealth rises among population fertility rates go in opposite direction. Besides if ECOWAS wants to pay for these measures you'll need taxes from productive citizens.

They Shud Start frm Nigeria, Castrate dem He goats....frm Kano,Jigawa,Bauchi breeding kids like Dogs

Blame the Majorly Muslim North....And

Izlam Doesn't even Knw A tin abt birth control

OVI75:
They Shud Start frm Nigeria, Castrate dem He goats....frm Kano,Jigawa,Bauchi breeding kids like Dogs

Blame the Majorly Muslim North....And

Izlam Doesn't even Knw A tin abt birth control

Lol tough guys like you are funny. I doubt you'd bust a grape in a food fight.

hmm

Malam Sanusi was almost thrown out of throne for daring to spread such msg to their people

.

Who are they telling? It is they the leaders who have placed the region where it is today with their poor healthcare, educational and family planning services all because they chose to waste our taxes on frivolous agendas and personal aggrandizement.
Change begins with them.

Ths right here is our problem...

Might sound like a broken record, but nature has a way of controlling and putting things on moderate if we as humans have refused to put things on check.

Wars, untreatable diseases, natural disasters etc are measures nature uses in trimming out population.

With Asia it is natural disasters..
With arabs its wars..
With Africa its Untreatable diseases..

How in the world do you want to get developed we have $30b and a population of 200m with rogues and thieves as leaders, while america has a treasury of $?tr with approx 300m population..

Good one from ECOWAS,I cringe when people talk about the population of Nigeria as if it's something to be proud of,Population doesn't tell the whole story,a population that is barely lettered,poor, no access to healthcare,and largely unskilled is a potential time bomb.

I hope the Northerners are listening

You think it Normale for people to risk their lives across a desert. If you guys bothern to make your economy tolerable they wouldn't feel desperate. ECOWAS could grow economy by having more intra-African trade. Too achieve this loosen up trade barriers by embracing free trade.

“This youth, when it doesn’t find any solutions, becomes a bomb: they cross the desert or the Mediterranean, die by thousands through clandestine immigration,” he added.