Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, July 13:

Speakers at an interaction on Population Management, which was held in the Capital today, said that population growth can be controlled by educating and empowering women and by making the youths aware of reproductive health.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the rate of population growth is 2.24 per cent and the urban area has 21 per cent of the total population, which was 14.20 per cent according to the population census of 2001. Pancha Kumari Manandhar, president, Nepal Population Association, said population growth can be checked by educating and empowering women.

“The age group between 10 and 24 years comprise one-third of the population. The focus should be on educating this age group on reproductive health and sex education.”

She said most of the national resources should be spent on this group to strengthen the future of the nation. “Since internal displacement management is a major challenge, it should be addressed by the government and parties,” Bishnu Raj Upadhaya, a conflict expert, said.