T

he population of the world reached 7 billion on Oct. 31, 2011. According to UN projections there will be an additional 3 billion or more people by the end of the century.

Unfortunately, there are millions of women in developing countries who are unable to determine their family size because of a lack of access to contraceptives.

The largest number of children in history are entering their reproductive years; therefore the decisions and policies that are made today and the options that are prepared for young people will determine whether the world’s population will climb to 11 billion by 2050.

Advanced and prosperous countries, thanks to their technological power and institutions, will utilize the large population as a market for their products. Developing and poor countries will be greatly impacted by rapid population growth as they will exist as mere markets and consumers of products.

Not only that, nature and the whole world will suffer because of human activity that is greedy and powerful. Environmental damage has occurred all over the world because of human activity. Conflicts between humans and animals have intensified because humans disturb and deplete animals’ habitats.

In fact, humans as the caretakers of the earth can build harmony with nature, but the reality is the other way around. Islam believes Allah (the Almighty) has let the damages to the land happen so that people might feel the consequences of their behavior and return to the right way.

Therefore, chaos will be the effect if the population reaches 11 billion 2050. Such a threat is real given the current condition of the earth, which is increasingly frail.

We have experienced ecological disasters for centuries in the forms of floods, landslides and droughts. Not only that, every day we witness the suffering and misery of hundreds of thousands of starving refugees in Somalia and several other African countries as a result of food crises.

Many countries are also experiencing energy crises that often result in a battle for territory and colonization by other nations. One of the things that worries us is global warming and the emergence of various kinds of deadly diseases.

As the world population explosion continues, more natural and ecological disasters as well as the spread of multidimensional disasters are possible. Usually, when tragedies strike, women, children and the disabled are the most vulnerable and suffer the most.

The fate of women on this aging earth looks increasingly grim for many reasons. As an example, when the additional population of the earth reaches productive age, more women will face threat of death during childbirth.

The mortality rate of mothers, babies and toddlers in developing countries is still high. The risk of death from pregnancy among women in developing countries is 10 times higher than their counterparts in developed countries. The condition is even worse in developing countries, where the risk of maternal death is around 16 times compared with that in advanced countries.

Women and children become victims of human trafficking which causes suffering for them. In Indonesia alone, 3,808 cases of trafficking were recorded from March 2005 to September 2010, 90.4 percent of which involved women.

In the book The World at 7 Billion: Counting on each other, published by UNFA several facts show that poor countries discriminate against women, wasting half of their population’s productivity. Based on UN rankings, the 10 countries that rank lowest in gender equality are Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Central African Republic, Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, Mali, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo and Yemen.

Another impact is the increase in violence against women, both domestic violence, and state violence. In Indonesia alone, as described by Sonny Harry B Harmadi, head of the Institute of Demography at the University of Indonesia’s School of Economics, violence against women in Indonesia increased from 20,391 cases in 2005 to 105,103 cases in 2010. It means 31 out of 1,000 women have experienced violence.

Married women are more prone to violence than single women.

While in the field of education, 7.42 percent of the population aged 15 or above are illiterate, and the percentage of women who are illiterate is 10.32 percent.

In the health field, women also are vulnerable to diseases like HIV/AIDS. In 2006, it was estimated that 193,000 adults were affected by HIV/AIDS and 21 percent were women. In 2010, it was estimated that the population affected by HIV/AIDS had increased to 333,200 adults and 25 percent of these were women. While knowledge about AIDS remains low, 61 percent of married women have never heard about AIDS and only 9.1 percent have comprehensive knowledge of the syndrome.

There are many other unspeakable tragedies that befall on women in various parts of the world, including Indonesia. To keep women from more sufferings as a result of increase in population, all parties must pay extra attention, not only to efforts to reduce population growth through family planning programs, but an integrated effort to build the capacity of women through education and empowerment.

Education will develop the insight and skills of women in the face of the population explosion in the future. Promotion of gender equality and fairness, both in the communities and across the globe, is one of the ways to liberate women from the possibility of this disaster.

When family planning programs are intended to build family harmony, it should not only be the responsibility of women, but also men. In addition, preparing women for the impact of disasters resulting from population growth, and efforts to increase employment for women are other ways to reduce population growth.

There are certainly many ways, if there is a will.

The writer is the director of the Center for Community Development and Education (CCDE) in Banda Aceh.