Cambodia's hight birth rate adds fuel to fire<\/p>\n
By Matthew Lee<\/p>\n
PHNOM PENH (AFP): Cambodia faces a population explosion unless
\nstrong measures are taken to educate the largely illiterate
\npopulation about family planning, according to the United
\nNations.<\/p>\n
If its population growth is not controlled, Cambodia has a
\nbleak future as a beggar nation unable to sustain itself without
\nlarge infusions of foreign aid, said Vincent Faveau, country
\ndirector for the United Nations Population Fund.<\/p>\n
With the second highest growth rate in the region -- an
\nincrease of 2.5 percent each year, 0.8 percent above the
\nSoutheast Asian average -- Cambodia will see its population soar
\nfrom the current 10.3 million to an estimated 19. 7 million by
\n2025.<\/p>\n
Resources to support such an increase are woefully lacking and
\nwill be adequate only if Cambodia continues to receive massive
\ninternational support, Faveau said.<\/p>\n
\"What we are worried about is the inadequacy of the growth of
\nresources and growth of population,\" he told reporters in remarks
\nprepared for World Population Day on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"You would be okay if you had large population growth and you
\nhad the resources -- food, education -- growing at the same
\nproportion, but this is not the case... With the current growth
\nof population there is a continuous need for international
\nassistance to provide the resources.<\/p>\n
\"The country will never be sustainable, they have to achieve
\nsome kind of balance between population and resources.\"<\/p>\n
Illiteracy and ignorance about contraception are just two of
\nmany obstacles Cambodia faces in dealing with its population
\nproblem.<\/p>\n
A recent survey of 4,600 women found that 60 percent of them
\ncould not name a form of contraception, though the same survey
\nfound that 90 percent of married women would like to either space
\ntheir births or stop having children.<\/p>\n
Only seven percent of women in Cambodia use a modern form of
\ncontraception, the survey showed.<\/p>\n
\"Millions of dollars have to be spent very year on
\ncontraception in Cambodia to meet the needs,\" Faveau said.<\/p>\n
But the move toward educating women about contraception has
\nbeen hampered by some in the government who say that Cambodia's
\nlow population density of only 57 people per square kilometer
\nmeans there is room for many more children, he said.<\/p>\n
\"This is a short-term view, because if you accept this view
\nyou must provide food, health care, education employment, housing
\nto the number of children that you want to have,\" he said, adding
\nthat even with international aid, Cambodia has had a hard time in
\nthat.<\/p>",
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