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The UN has declared that today, October 31, will be the date that the world’s population officially reaches seven billion.
Tom Arnold, CEO of Concern Worldwide, here writes an open letter to the seven billionth child.
DEAR BABY 7B,
Welcome to our world.
Before you grow up, there are a few things you should know. I don’t want to scare you, but let’s get some of the bad stuff up front so you will have no illusions. Call it ‘tough love’.
Your life chances are a lottery.
We don’t know where you have been born, but you’ll have a better chance of survival if you’ve been born in the developed world. If you happened to be born in Somalia, your chances are not great, to be honest, as it has the world’s highest child mortality rate, with almost one in five children dying before their fifth birthday. That’s why Concern and other international agencies and authorities have identified adequate nutrition during the first thousand days as critical to a child’s survival and long-term health prospects.
Looking at it positively, the identification of maternal and child health as the key to combating mortality rates is a recent breakthrough, so it’s real progress.
The longevity of your life is substantially out of your control as it, again, depends on where you are born. The good news is that the world’s average life expectancy has increased from 48 years in 1955 to 67 years today. The bad news is that if you’ve been born in a country like Sierra Leone, you might be fortunate to live past 50. If you were born in Ireland, you’re looking at 80, and in Japan it’s 82.
The reality is that life expectancy in the poorest nations is almost half that of the industrialised, richer nations due to under-nutrition, inadequate water and sanitation and public health and education issues.
You’d be right if you’re spotting a trend here…
On the plus side, though, the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) were developed and signed-up to by the UN member countries in 2000 with the aim of reducing mortality and morbidity, thereby increasing adult and child survival rates in the poorest developing countries, so it’s not all doom and gloom. While some countries look like they won’t achieve their MDG targets by 2015, overall it’s heading in the right direction.
There’s another harsh reality you need to be aware of: only two percent of the world’s population own more than 50% of the global wealth, while the poorest 50% of people own just 1%. The 225 richest people on the planet now earn the same as the poorest 2.7 billion – 40% of all humanity. It’s another cruel imbalance.
Then there are people who believe you, as the seventh billionth person, represent a world population that is too big, is unsustainable, that there are only finite resources and by limiting population we can confront world hunger and other imbalances. This is an antiquated idea initially propagated by Thomas Malthus in the 1700s. I think we can safely say the world has advanced since then, and so has the thinking on this issue.
In 1969 – when the world’s population was approaching four billion – the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation estimated that the percentage of undernourished people in the world was just below 35 per cent. This declined to 20 per cent in 1990 and 16 per cent in 2010. That said, while the proportion of hungry people has fallen over the past 50 years, the absolute number rose throughout the period, especially – you guessed it – in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, developing countries as a group have seen an overall setback in terms of the number of hungry people, reaching one billion for the first time in 2009, which is pretty much where it still is.
Due to climate change, the world you have been born into faces massive consequences if we adults don’t act now and with decisiveness to leave a positive legacy for you. Some progress is being made at international level, but it remains too slow.
The poorest populations are not the world’s biggest consumers and exploiters and extremely poor people are in general very aware of their ‘fragile and precarious environments’.
It is only just and fair that people living in extreme poverty are consulted and actively engaged in exploring sustainable solutions to reduce pressure on planet earth and to increase the quality of life for the benefit of ALL people.
And who knows where technology and innovation will lead us. They might be on the iPhone 25 by the time to you reach your pre-teens and that kind of technology, as well as the internet, has already had a transformational impact on the spread of democracy and the overthrow of repression and inequality even just in the past year during the elongated Arab Spring. Technology and innovation can be applied in all kinds of ways, many of which have not even been thought of, or developed, yet. But people are in control of technology and its uses. We’re in trouble if it becomes the other way round!
So, people are central to the solution, not the problem. I hope you will be able to play a constructive part.
Food security, agricultural investment as part of national and international development strategies and in the allocations of aid resources are all within the control of people. A fairer distribution of wealth lies with people. Dealing with issues around climate change and planning for them lies with people. Confronting racial and gender inequality lies with people.
Even solving the current global economic and fiscal crisis, of which you are undoubtedly and I hope blissfully unaware right now, rests with people.
The cracks are there for all to see and must be confronted. Given the global turbulence right now, potentially wonderful opportunities exist for people to talk to each other and get things, if not absolutely right, then better and more balanced.
We’re working on it…
Your friend,
Tom
Tom Arnold is the CEO of Concern Worldwide.
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Nicely put Tom. BTW can you stop your chuggers calling to my house every week. Annoys the hell out of me. I do subscribe to charities, and have previously worked in the developing world on environmental and social issues. I just don’t like the chuggers. Get rid of them.
The chuggers are on commission, which explains their boundless yapping enthusiasm. Charity is a growth industry, as evidenced by Mr. Arnold, who earns around three grand a week.
@ryan I worked for concern, they dont pay commission, theyre one of the few who dont pay commission.
It helps to research your facts to back up your arguments
So they don’t pay their CEO €140k a year either then? Or seven other of their staff €2,000 a week?
Or pay their chuggers by the hour? (They call them “direct dialogue fundraisers” by the way, folks).
Or spend €13 million per annum on wages?
I would imagine that Concern and others like them would rather that people didn’t do any research at all, preferring them to labour under the illusion that every penny collected goes to wells and hospitals, rather than expense claims, bribes, or beer money for Fintan and Fachtna in return for pestering people on Grafton St., in the smug yet deluded notion that they’re doing their bit for the third world instead of just another job.
I need to clarify here, I don’t want people to think I’m tarring anyone involved with charities with the one brush. If it wasn’t for volunteerism and philanthropy, the world would be a far poorer place.
Just to clarify, Micheáilín and I don’t doubt your sincerity but are you saying that they are not rewarded in any way at all and that their work is 100% voluntary?
I assume she means they’re on a flat hourly rate.
one word – contraception
I dont think that letter was for that baby
Me neither, Dave.
Being a bit creative with the truth Mr Arnold. The ideas of Thomas Malthus may be old but are relevant now than they have ever been.
This planet has finite and rapidly depleting natural resources, including fresh water. Organisations like Concern are burying their head in the sand by continuing to insist that overpopulation of the planet is not an issue. With climate change, it is the most pressing issue we and the planet currently face.
Instead of ‘population denial’, NGOs and governments urgently need to pursue population control policies.
I find myself agreeing more and more with Agent Smith’s “human beings are a disease” speech from The Matrix!
Re ronan mulhern.
Yes population growth adds to the problem. But there are two elements of your argument I find uncomfortable: 1. The implication that the problem is only for 3rd populations to resolve. 2. Are you proposing mandatory 1 child families? In ireland we promote the opposite. We give childrens allowance irrerspective of the number of children. May be ireland should take the lead and apply only too the first child?
Re: Bruce
I never actually said that the 3rd world was the problem; however the fact is that the population growth is not happening in the developed world. I’m sorry if that disturbs you but sometimes the evidence is uncomfortable to take.
The solutions you suggest may be emergency measures in the future but for the moment I am talking about improving education, particularly for girls and women and improved access to, and promotion of contraception.
The problem is that these policies should have been pursued more stringently decades ago and could have avoided a miserable existence for tens of millions.
We in the developed world have the luxury of deciding how many and if to have children; many millions of women in the developing world are denied that choice.
To your response. I did agree that population growth is an issue. But it is not simply a problem for “them out there”. There its a baby boom in ireland right now which I will argue is facilitated by universal childrens allowance without limits.
Nor is the issue simply about reproduction. Improvements in health care & hygiene have lead to reduced infant morality and lead to people living longer. To finish sound bites don’t really advance the discussion
Hello baby person. The world is full of wonder and amazing people and stories. Yer gonna love it a chara. It’s most important to remember and remind yourself as you grow up and go through life’s trials and tribulations… YOU are supposed to be here right now for reasons you don’t need to know AND this world loves you. ;)
Population growth isn’t a problem?
Jeez.
One point to remember: the value of bonuses paid in wall street in 2008 was MORE than the entire global aid budget.
Ref michael d higgins dail speech re the bank guarantee scheme.
We, the developed world, have abandoned the poor. It wont take grand schemes just for everyone to do a little. We waste water, food and energy without consideration of the impact.
you are quite naive to think irelands current baby boom is due to no cap on childrens allowance, that simply is not the reason most are having children. In simple math terms, you are referring to a ‘constant’, that does not explain the baby boom.
Dear baby,
Do you like gravy? I do. Thats why I have myself a 140k position with Concern. So if you want to be considered a philanthropist and use donations from the proles to put your children through private school, do as I do! It’s all gravy baby!
Signed
Tom
How about: “Hey no. 7 billion, welcome to the world. It’s great and you can make it better. Enjoy and don’t be afraid to ask us for help. Sincerely, the worldpopulation”
Simple, baby: Live long and prosper!
On human timescales the earth has de-facto infinite resources Ronán.
A few kilometres under our feet molten rock has enough thermal energy to serve humanity for billions of years.
(Less than a metre under your feet in parts of Iceland!)
Over our heads the sun (which technically speaking is a continually exploding thermo-nuclear fusion bomb) has another 5 or 6 billion years in it at full tilt.
We just have to learn how to harness those de-facto infinite resources.
What an incredibly naively written “letter”. To state that over population is an antiquated notion when it has never been more pertinent, is ironic at best and moronic in reality. I have guilt from the fact that I feel contempt towards a man who is blatantly as altruistic as Tom Arnold, but he is obviously not seeing the wood from the trees. Over population is a very real problem that is the greatest threat our species has seen.
7 billionth baby was born in the philippenes a little girl
I think it’s probably mostly guesswork, there are a good few countries out there that are better at counting their dollars than their hungry mouths.
We dont know that for sure. For example we actually know many people live in Africa.
correction. We dont know how mant people live in Africa.
Such a load of old kak. There was a child, somewhere in the world, born at exactly the same time. Shouldnt that child be 7 bn? Honestly, some people haven’t a fecking clue.
Reading this at 4.30 am while feeding my 2 week old… Welcome to the world baby boy…?!
How about: Dear baby,
Can you spare 7 euro a month to feed my 140k salary?
Tom
From my top floor air conditioned office
Can you promise us you will stop the chugging Tom? This irritating and in some cases intimidating practice puts me off donating anything to be honest.
No over population isn’t a problem. While we have reached 7 billion the problem we will face in the very near future is a dramatic fall off in births. The figures are being monitored by those who want to spread contraception and abortion around the world. Look beyond the figures and you will see that most European countries have a birth rate that is actually below their replacement rates. The only thing keeping this figures up is immigration. So in the future we will be faced with grey populations. They have already discovered this problem in Japan. Overpopulation is a lie spread by those rich who don’t want their conscience pricked by seeing millions living and dying below the poverty line. Good article.
Absolutely spot on. And…… Nothing to do with Catholicism or religion!!!
What is happening is the rate of increase is declining not that actual numbers are falling. This maybe a sign we are coming close to the stationary phase of population growth or it maybe a bump in the curve.
Has anyone hear even heard of the population demographic chart? It says that as a country develops, its population will balance out and maybe even decrease. Look over your geography books for Pete’s sake.
Global warming,overpopulation two of the greatest myths of the 21st century.Global warming is used by the 1% who control the worlds wealth to spread fear amongst ordinary folk regarding living standards etc. A lot of scientists are starting to question global warming as just scaremongering,most would agree its just down to sun spots affecting our climate. Al Gore and his associates just want more taxes on people to cover windfarms etc which provide very little in green power, while lining their own pockets.As regards overpopulation the world is still relatively empty with most people living in cities and coastal areas leaving vast areas of land available for farming crops and animals, some scientists involved with food and demand believe the earth could easily provide food for 30 billion people. Whats needed is fair distribution of food and money,a glut of these at the moment.Its a big world out there dont believe the all the scaremongering.
no, most scientists agree that global warming is real, only a small minority agree its in relation to sun spots. I have little knowledge on the topic of overppulation so you may well be right on your remarks.
If Tom and his fellow CEO’s from ‘Charity Land’ took a 50% pay drop they would still be taking home ( before Expenses! ) over €70,000.00 a year …How many babies can you feed and educate for that kind of money
When we are born we cry that we are come… To this great stage of fools. – William Shakespeare.
Of course over population is a problem. Religions obsession (especially Catholicism) and poverty and cultures are to blame. But to say its not a problem is away with the fairies. To put it bluntly microbes on a petri dish have 4 phases the lag phase where bacteria adapt best to their environment, log phase where there is exponential increase in numbers, a stationary phase where the numbers of new ones born equal the deaths and finally the death phase where numbers drop. Science and technology will increase the human growth phase probably even further with GM faster growing food. But sooner or later it will reach braking point. Food prices water scarcity etc.
Cyril, at this present time, you could fit all the people on this planet into the corner of one country and population control is all a load of hogwash and this has been dealt with mathematically and has been proven to be a nonsense. In Some countries people are not even replacing themselves. In some Asian countries the Governments are trying to reverse the policy of one-child families. There has been a drop in fertility rates for decades now and consequently the population growth is decreasing on an ongoing basis. This is not a theory but factual stats.
Sheelagh human behaviour and geopolitical systems are not quite as simple as saying we could put all the people in the world in one Country. Who exactly will do the putting of people anywhere? The last time governments tried that level of societal organisation it was called communism and alot of people got killed. In theory if humans were alll loving to everyone and didnt need reward and punishment (carrot and stick) motivation we could end world poverty tomorrow. But the reality of our species is we are not. We need motivations like threat of prison or fines in the democratic world to act in a certain way or in the developing world the threat of hell or the curses of ancestors versus the reward of heaven for good behaviour. While our ability for altruism is better than any other species we also have a better ability to murder en masse than any other species alive. The two systems that have achieved mass obedience to leadership were religion and political despotism/dictatorships be they communist or facist. Both have resulted in societal collapse religion in the middle east and communism has fallen everywhere it was even in Cuba. Failing this type of societal mind control humans are not going to agree to these ideas voluntarily. Thus in the real world population numbers will pose a threat I dont fully know the extent of it or how many more people the real world is capable of sustaining. I am not blaming religion for this but it is definately implicated especially when popes have told Catholics not to use contraception. Im not saying we need to place caps on the amount of kids people can have but to promote uncontrolled reproduction in the way Catholicism does is a tad primitive me thinks and the only ones who benefit are more sheep for the flock. Factors like our life expectancy will be dramatically increased over the next 50 years and our effect on the earths climate are also implications. It is not a crisis yet but at some time in the future it will be.
Amazing..!
Even the great rise if China is now predicted to falter around 2050. Why? Demographics.
It is not a reason to have more children just because you can, especially in countries that cannot feed those already born.
What is this? Why choose this poor packaging as a literary device? Terrible… the point could be made much more clearly in fewer words with more weight then this gushy piece.
This is all a bit dumb really, considering it’s most definitely NOT the 7th billion person in the world, if we take into account the amount of unregistered people in the world….
If I were a baby with a phenomenal intellectual capacity & was handed this letter upon arrival, I think I’d want to turn around and crawl back up into my mother. Furthermore, are people living in extreme poverty really going to be concerned with being included in matters relating to sustaining planet earth? I think not – they’re going to be concerned with where their next meal comes from and if they’ll make it to tomorrow.
Monitored should have been manipulated
Cyril, yes the rate of increase in population is slowing down dramatically and to answer what you said elsewhere, in some countries, like India there are huge populations and poverty but to say that the poverty is caused by the size of the population is not the whole story, neither will it solve the problem to say that ‘the world’ is over populated because there are parts of the world with very few people. Nobody expects that people should be moved but policies by Governments across the world are designed to herd people towards urban centres and a lack of self sufficiency so that they will be more easily controlled.
!
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