ブックタイトル佐藤栄作　受賞論文集

概要

佐藤栄作　受賞論文集

第23回優秀賞“The Role of United Nations in the Global PopulationIssue”森山香澄Although global issues such as population growth, environmental destructionand sustainable development have long been discussed and endeavored upon, theseproblems are yet today far from solved. On the other hand, while population growthis the greater problem at the moment, a new issue of failing birthrate has arisen infirst world nations, which in turn will result in stagnant development and then to lessfinancial support for the solution of global issues. However, when one recalls the factthat in the 1950’s the global population was less than half that of today, the currentstate is by no means a standard and failing birthrate should not be solved by increasein fertility. Rather, the world needs to accept what is already becoming a reality,acknowledge not only its demerits but also merits, and begin to anticipate solutionsother than increasing the number of children. In such situation, one needs to find thebalance between human rights s/he possesses as an individual and responsibility forhis/her decisions as a global citizen. Accordingly, the United Nations needs to find ameans to involve general citizens more in its projects and to find a balance betweenthe two very different paradigms first-world and third-world nations are goingthrough; population growth and population decline.The population of the world has reached 6.5 billion in the year 2005, and by 2050it is predicted that it will further grow and reach 8.5 billion. Although the growthrate itself is in decline after reaching its peak in the 1990s, the population continuesto grow with additional 7.6 million each year. Until industrial revolution, population515