Topic » Security and Governance
Countries that lack the means to provide for basic needs of their people face greater risk of instability and conflict. When limited access to family planning contributes to high fertility, it creates a high percentage of young people with fewer economic opportunities. While there is not a direct causal relationship between age structure and conflict, eighty percent of all outbreaks of civil conflict between 1970 and 1999 occurred in countries in which at least 60 percent of the population was under the age of 30.
PAI identifies links between demographics and security to highlight strategies for governments and global institutions to combat poverty, ensure growing nations develop sustainably, and create a more stable world. PAI believes programs that promote demographic transition — such as family planning, girls’ education, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment—must be an integral part of development assistance.
FEATURED PUBLICATIONS
The Shape of Things to Come – Why Age Structure Matters To A Safer, More Equitable World
Updated Report available: The Shape of Things to Come: The Effects of Age Structure on Development By Elizabeth Leahy with Robert Engelman, Carolyn Gibb Vogel, Sarah Haddock and Tod Preston What follows is the result of more than two years of … Continue reading
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Want to Fight Hunger? Empower Women and Prioritize Family Planning
Originally published in The Huffington Post Have you seen the ads? They seem to be everywhere — from the Washington Metro system’s billboards, to the New Yorker and Roll Call. “9 billion people to feed. A changing climate. NOW WHAT?” … Continue reading
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Future Prospects for the Youth in Uganda
I have just concluded a nine day visit to Uganda to research the connections between population dynamics and development. This connection has been made by PAI and others on the global level but we have yet to discern how this … Continue reading
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Elizabeth Leahy on Demography and “Aging Alarmists”
In an op-ed published in The Washington Post on January 4, Neil Howe and Richard Jackson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) sound the alarm about the “massive disruption” the world may face in the 2020s due … Continue reading
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Success South of the Border: Family Planning in Mexico
Last week I had the good fortune of being in Mexico for a PAI study tour of the country’s family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) programs. Thanks in part to twenty years of U.S. FP/RH assistance (from the mid-1970s to … Continue reading
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Demographic Security and the CIA
Elizabeth Leahy is a Research Associate with PAI. CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden’s recent identification of population growth as one of three top destabilizing trends currently facing the world has received extensive media coverage. The director’s comments seem to have … Continue reading
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Watching Kenya Unravel
Over the last 10 days it has been difficult to read about and take in the photos documenting Kenya’s election debacle. While not an avid follower of Kenyan politics, I heard from friends and colleagues there that the 2007 election … Continue reading
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Berlin 3: “A Wake Up Call for Germany”
Introduction: Staff from Population Action International are presenting “The Shape of Things to Come: Why Age Structure Matters to a Safer, More Equitable World” at several events in Europe. Join Tyler LePard, PAI’s Media Manager, for an inside look! After … Continue reading
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Berlin 2: “Ich bin ein Berliner.”
Introduction: Staff from Population Action International are presenting “The Shape of Things to Come: Why Age Structure Matters to a Safer, More Equitable World” at several events in Europe. Join Tyler LePard, PAI’s Media Manager, for an inside look! On … Continue reading
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Berlin 1: Trains, Taxis and Bicycles — From the Netherlands to Germany
Introduction: Staff from Population Action International are presenting “The Shape of Things to Come: Why Age Structure Matters to a Safer, More Equitable World” ” at several events in Europe. Join Tyler LePard, PAI’s Media Manager, for an inside look! … Continue reading
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The Peace Palace
Our first stop on the European tour was The Netherlands. We were invited by the World Population Fund to present “The Shape of Things to Come.” Amy Coen, Claudia Kennedy, Tod Preston, Liz Leahy and I arrived in The Hague … Continue reading