PNG does not need family planning

Friday, February 7th, 2014

Papua New Guinea “does not need to promote family planning or practices such as contraception and abortion,” said Father Giorgio Licini, secretary of the Commission for Social Communications for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Solomon Islands

Licini told the news agency Agenzia Fides that the increase in population in Papua New Guinea is not a nightmare, but it can result in an encouraging prospect for growth and social and economic progress of the country.

The data of the 2011 census, published recently, show a lower rate of population growth of about 3.1 % per annum. Papua New Guinea is in line with many developing countries, while in the West there is a gradual ageing of the population.

Licini, said is not a problem or a “spectrum” for the country, as some observers argue, following the neo-Malthusian ideologies. “PNG does not need to promote family planning or practices such as contraception and abortion.”

With a population which is still limited and with considerable internal resources, PNG can easily plan to become a country of 30-40 million people by the end of the century, with a much stronger and diversified economy”, he said.

Source