Mayor demographic changes aren't a feature characteristic of Serbia and the countries of the region, nor a lower birth rates, population aging and migration related exclusively to individual countries. Troubles with negative demographic trends have been recorded on all continents for years. Although the world's population continues to grow, albeit at a much slower pace than was the previously case, many countries face fears that they will have a significantly smaller population in the not-so-distant future then day do today.
Every part of the world has its problems when it comes to population, reproductive and sexual health. In Europe, the main problems of negative demographic indicators the low birth rate and aging of nations, but also insufficient awareness of people about sexual and reproductive health.
Serbia, like many countries in the region, is also going through dramatic demographic changes whose main features are population decline, high migration of mostly young and educated people, and thus an aging population. According to the latest data, the average age in Serbia is 43, 3 years, while every fifth inhabitant is older than 65.
In general, we live in a unique demographic moment, and Serbia is not unique in its problems. We are seeing similar trends in countries across the region .
A global challenge
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has been working on the sexual and reproductive health of the population for more than 50 years, advising governments around the world how to understand demographic change and develop their policies accordingly. By promoting demographic diversity, social policies and respect for human rights as a basis for economic progress and sustainable development, UNFPA encourages the progress of society as a whole.
Once in 25 years, this United Nations agency organizes summit dedicated to improving population policy and reproductive health. The last summit was held last year in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, which gathered representatives from 170 countries, including statesmen, experts and representatives of the non-governmental sector. All participants in the meeting in Nairobi undertook, made of "oath" to work on achieving the goals of the United Nations in the field of population policy and reproductive health. Several billion dollars in assistance from public and private partners were provided for the planned goals during the summit.
Very worrying facts were presented at the meeting:
Every day, more than 800 women die in childbirth;
Every day, an average of 33,000 girls are forced to marriage;
Every day, 25 percentage of married girls are less than 18 years old;
More than 232 million women want to avoid pregnancy, but their choices are threatened because they don't have access to modern contraceptives;
Every year, million of little girls, adult girls and women around the world go through the brutal practice of genital mutilation, i.e. female circumcision.
Due to the above, but also all the negative things that mark demographic trends around the world, the summit participants adopted as a basic goal the proposal to eradicate maternal mortality by 2030, to meet women's demands worldwide when it comes to family planning, to end violence against women and girls completely, support the social inclusion of marginalized groups, and ensure that everyone has equal access to sexual and reproductive health.
With the Covid-19 pandemic affecting women and men in different ways, we note that the commitments made in Nairobi are more important than ever before. For example, almost twice as many women as men lost their jobs in the first wave of the pandemic: seven percent of women compared to four percent of men. Women were also more likely to report barriers to accessing health services, especially women living in rural areas. Due to social expectations, woman feel more burdened than men because they have to be successful in their jobs and reconcile it with household responsibilities.
Like other countries across the region, Serbia is going through demographic changes whose key characteristic are population decline and changes in the age structure. According to UNFPA data for Serbia, in the 10-year period alone, between 2007 and 2017, the percentage of young people under the age of 14 feel from 15.5 to 14.4 percent, while the population over the age of 65 increased from 17.2 to 19.6 percent. Already, every fifth person in Serbia is older than 65, and projections say that in less than 30 years, one of four people in Serbia will be older than 65.
When it comes to reproductive health, the data indicate that the situation hasn't change much over the years. The use of modern contraception, especially oral contraception, has been low for years, much lower than in some Western European countries. Women living outside urban areas, who are poorer, have lower incomes and lower levels of education, have poorer indicators.
Understandable fears
For example, almost three times fewer Romani woman use modern contraception, only seven percent to 21 percent of women in the total population. Cervical cancer is an important case of death and disability of women, which is especially worrying since we know that it can be prevented.
If we look at the region, we see that many of the challenges in Southeast Europe are very similar. Young women and men often face difficulties in accessing sexual and reproductive health services. Serious barriers persist among poor women, migrants, ethnic minorities, as well as the rural population. Young people, often unprepared by the school system, bear the risk of unplanned pregnancies and sexuality transmitted infections. Established gender inequalities and deep-rooted stereotypes about the role of women and men in the family and society still exist. All of these are worrying trends that are crucial for the work of UNFPA in Serbia.
