Pakistan is in the throes of a full-blown “crisis of scarcity,” Senator Sherry Rehman warned on Monday, declaring that the nation’s three “ticking time bombs” of unchecked population expansion, severe water shortages, and climate stress have “noiselessly exploded all around us.”
Delivering the opening keynote at the Population Summit, Senator Rehman urged for immediate national action, stating that Pakistan is no longer confronting distant threats but a present-day reality of dwindling resources overwhelmed by a rapidly increasing populace.
The senator highlighted that the country’s population is surging by six million people annually, a demographic expansion that is crushing basic services. “Do we wonder why our children go hungry? Why our health clinics cannot serve the sick? Why 26 million children are out of school?” she questioned, pointing to the immense challenge of creating three million new jobs each year to accommodate the growth.
Addressing Pakistan’s critical water situation, Senator Rehman remarked that the scarcity predicted for 2025 has now arrived. She cautioned that based on current demographic trends, the nation will need an additional 60 million acre-feet (MAF) of water by 2050 just to meet fundamental needs. “Our water consumption is far higher than available resources,” she stated. “Every drop is now competing with millions of new claimants every year.”
Citing data from the UNFPA, she noted that Pakistan’s population has reached 241.5 million, positioning it as the fifth-most populous country globally. Its annual growth rate of 2.55% is among the highest in Asia.
The economic consequences are stark, as Rehman explained that when population growth outpaces GDP growth, key economic indicators falter. “A 1% increase in population growth reduces per-capita income by Rs. 35,000 annually,” she observed. Conversely, if Pakistan could lower its fertility rate to 2.1 births per woman by 2030, per-capita income could potentially rise by 37%.
The burden of this crisis falls disproportionately on women and children. Senator Rehman shared grim statistics, including the death of a woman every 50 minutes from pregnancy or childbirth complications and that 40% of children under five suffer from stunting. Furthermore, the gendered impact of resource scarcity is evident as 72% of rural women dedicate up to nine hours daily just to collect water.
This population momentum is driven “not by choice, but by lack of access and agency,” she said, pointing to an unmet need for contraceptives affecting 17.3% of couples and a low contraceptive prevalence rate of only 34%.
To counter these pressures, Senator Rehman proposed several key measures, including the integration of family planning services into social protection programs and scaling up the Lady Health Worker initiative. She also called for the removal of taxes on contraceptives to ensure affordability and for a coordinated national effort involving ministries of health, education, water, and climate.
Engaging religious scholars to advocate for responsible parenting and birth spacing, in line with guidance from the Council of Islamic Ideology, was also emphasized as a crucial step.
“If we can feed our population, provide clean water, and give women agency, Pakistan can reclaim its future,” Senator Rehman concluded, stressing that this challenge “must become a national priority.”