Other Issues Affect and Get Affected by Population

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How does Human Rights, Conflict, Trade/Development patterns and the Environment come into all this?

Poverty is the number one health problem¹, in developing and developed nations alike. Structural Adjustment policies, for example, from the IMF have not helped² in many situations as social expenditure has had to be cut back. This has led to less investment in health, education and other basic services (the things that have led to a better quality of life in Europe after the second world war). Even the impacts on urban disaster vulnerability is shown to increase³ with structural adjustment policies by increasing urbanization and population movements from rural areas to the cities.

Another effect of reduced investment in these key areas is the reduction in development and potential⁴ of each person.

With corrupt ruling regimes, human rights have consistently been violated⁵, often with the "aid⁶" of Western and developed nations. In an area of increased populations, there may be an increased likelihood of tensions mounting into violence.

In order for nations to remain or increase economic wealth, environmental considerations⁷ have sometimes also taken a back seat.

A study suggests that increasing food production in developing nations can help in preventing conflicts, even promoting or preserving peace⁸. However, looking at the root causes of the lack of food production itself may reveal in many places not so much "over" population, but the international trade and economic treaties (or enforcements) that have led to increased exports of basic resources, rather than developing these themselves, of increased dependency via structural adjustment and so on. Tackling these would have a more effective result in poverty and hunger alleviation. Tackling symptoms only leads to maintaining and not questioning the underlying structures.

Similarly, with increased consumption (in the wealthier countries, which is not where the majority of the world's population is to be found), and the way that products are produced, consumed and thrown away have an impact on the environment around the world, because production is often in the developing countries (where the majority of the world's populations are to be found). As a result of degradation to the environment, tensions can increase.

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