The UN’s 2025 World Population Day theme emphasizes youth empowerment and reproductive rights, urging countries like India—with the world’s largest youth population—to invest in rights-based, multi-sectoral strategies to realize its demographic dividend.

Youth, Reproductive Autonomy & Demographic Dividend

• Demographic Window of Opportunity: India has 371 million youth (15–29 years), as per UNICEF, the largest in the world, offering a demographic dividend potential of $1 trillion in GDP by 2030 (World Bank & NITI Aayog).
• Persisting Challenges in Reproductive Autonomy:NFHS-5 (2019–21) reveals 23.3% child marriages and 7% teenage pregnancies nationally, with some states reporting twice the national average, indicating deep regional disparities.
• Unmet Reproductive Goals: The UNFPA State of World Population Report 2025 shows 36% of Indian adults face unintended pregnancies, while 30% have unmet reproductive goals; 23% face both—signifying limited choice and agency.

Policy Interventions and Programme Impacts

• Udaan Project – Rajasthan (2017–2022): By leveraging government scholarships, awareness, and contraceptive access, 30,000 child marriages and 15,000 teenage pregnancies were prevented, enabling education continuity for adolescent girls.
• Advika Programme – Odisha (2019–2020 onwards): In partnership with UNICEF-UNFPA, the programme declared 11,000 villages child marriage-free and stopped 950 child marriages in 2022, combining adolescent empowerment with state system strengthening.
• Role of Education: UNICEF data indicates that each additional year of secondary education reduces the likelihood of child marriage by 6%, underlining the critical role of formal education in delaying early marriages.

Economic Empowerment and Gender Equity

• Project Manzil – Rajasthan (2019–2025):Using a human-centred design, the project helped 28,000 young women complete skill training, and 16,000 gained employment, many being first-generation skilled workers in their communities.
• Linking Economic Power with Reproductive Agency:Financially empowered women show higher negotiation power in delaying marriage and childbirth, directly enhancing reproductive autonomy and societal participation.
• Comprehensive Approach Needed: The UNFPA calls for multi-sectoral investments—contraception, education, housing, maternal care, and workplace flexibility—to dismantle structural barriers and create enabling environments for youth.

Practice Question:

1. "India’s demographic dividend depends not only on population size but also on the empowerment of youth, especially young women." Discuss in light of reproductive autonomy and skill development programmes such as Udaan, Advika, and Manzil.(250 words)