11 July 2025, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan – World Population Day is observed annually on July 11. This year’s theme is “Empowering young people to create the families they want in a fair and hopeful world”. It emphasizes the need to listen to young people’s voices and recognize their legitimate concerns, so they can make free and informed reproductive choices and have hope for the future.
As part of this day, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Office in Turkmenistan presented the 2025 State of World Population Report (SWOP 2025) to national and development partners. The event, held at Yyldyz Hotel, highlighted the central role of youth in demographic processes and marked an important step in re-evaluating demographic processes and strengthening cooperation.
The Report, titled “The Real Fertility Crisis: The Pursuit of Reproductive Agency in a Changing World”, challenges common mistaken assumptions about fertility. It emphasizes that the real problem is a lack of reproductive agency – as a result, too many people are unable to fulfill their reproductive aspirations. A UNFPA and YouGov survey, conducted in 14 countries among 14,000 people, showed that most respondents desire to have children but face difficulties. For example, 1 in 3 people over 50, or 31%, regret having had fewer children than they wanted.
Economic insecurity is one of the key reasons young people cannot realize their family plans. More than half of respondents cited economic issues, including financial and job instability, as well as the cost of housing and childcare, as barriers to their desired number of children. Anxiety about the future, caused by climate disasters, economic instability, and rising global conflicts, is also a significant obstacle.
“World Population Day reminds us of the need to listen to the voices of young people and consider their legitimate concerns about their future. The State of World Population 2025 report shifts the focus from the number of children to the realization of reproductive aspirations and the elimination of barriers that prevent people from having as many children as they want, rather than achieving specific fertility targets. This indicates that declining birth rates are due to obstacles in realizing reproductive rights: choosing when and how many children to have,” – emphasized Mr. Kemal Goshliyev, Head of UNFPA Turkmenistan Country Office.
The UNFPA report emphasizes that expanding choice, not limiting it, is the best way to solve these problems, contributing to the realization of personal aspirations, human rights, and gender equality. Among the solutions highlighted in the report are: workplace flexibility, accessible childcare, accessible secondary schools and preschools, affordable housing, the elimination of outdated norms that primarily place the burden of child-rearing on women’s shoulders, and ensuring quality health services for all, supporting a person’s right to free and responsible choice in family matters.
For Central Asian countries, including Turkmenistan, the report highlights a unique demographic opportunity driven by sustainable population growth and its youthfulness. However, to realize the demographic dividend, strategic investments are needed in human capital, empowering women and girls, ensuring job accessibility, and strengthening social support systems.
UNFPA reaffirms its comprehensive support in creating an environment where every individual can realize their personal aspirations and rights to have as many children as they want and when they want, building societies that are sustainable, prosperous, and inclusive for all.
Additionally, as part of World Population Day, an exhibition of watercolor artworks from an art competition organized by the UNFPA Turkmenistan Country Office was held. The competition, held under the theme “Family Begins with Desire and Support,” aimed to reflect the central ideas of the SWOP 2025 Report on overcoming barriers to realizing family aspirations. All submitted works were solemnly presented during the event, and the winners were awarded valuable prizes. The prize-winners shared their inspiration and spoke about what prompted them to create these vivid works, emphasizing the importance of support and choice for every family.
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The full text of the SWOP 2025 report in English and Russian can be found at the following links:
///nCa, 11 July 2025 (in cooperation with UNFPA Turkmenistan)