This book is about the challenge posed by the unprecedented growth of the world's population and the response that has been made to that challenge by the United Nations.

This book recounts the successful story of national and international approaches to the population question since the 1960s to the present and of the progress made in reducing rapid rates of population growth and high levels of fertility. It describes the evolution of national population policies by governments, their aims, successes and shortcomings, and subsequently of the emergence of international agencies seeking to reinforce and underpin those commitments. This study draws heavily on documents and sources, and carefully assesses the achievements of the 1974 Bucharest World Population...