More young people than ever are entering their childbearing and working years. At the same time, the number and proportion of people over age 65 are increasing at an unprecedented rate. Our future will be shaped by how well families and societies meet the needs of these growing "new generations": education and health -- including reproductive health -- for the young, and social, medical and financial support for the elderly.

Women are having fewer children than ever before, and population growth has slowed from 2.0 to 1.3 per cent in 30 years. But large families in the recent past mean that there are many more women of childbearing age. Global population is still rising by about 78 million people a year. Half the world is under 25 and there are over a billion young people between 15 and 24, the parents of the next generation.

This report is intended to be a tool for donor and developing country Governments, multilateral organizations and agencies, private foundations and NGOs to monitor progress in achieving the financial resource targets agreed to at the ICPD. Development cooperation officers and policy makers in developing countries can use the report to identify the domestically generated resources and complementary resources from donors needed to finance population and reproductive health programmes.

Human activity is altering the planet on an unprecedented scale, the report points out. More people are using more resources with more intensity and leaving a bigger "footprint" on the earth than ever before. The report examines the close links between environmental conditions, population trends, and prospects for alleviating poverty in developing countries. It finds that expanding women's opportunities and ensuring their reproductive health and rights are critically important, both to improve the well-being of growing human populations and to protect the natural world.

This new report provides an overview of the complex interrelations between population, the environment and poverty and the operational challenges they engender. The report documents UNFPA support for a number of programme initiatives in this area, and concludes that in order to achieve the mutually reinforcing UNCED and ICPD goals, now mainstreamed in the Millennium Declaration, actions are required by both developed and developing countries.