He continued:

 

Along with the preparatory statements by some NGOs, this literature gives the impression that the very institution which launched the MDGs fifteen years ago is giving priority to population control and getting the poor to accept these arrangements rather than primarily focusing upon its commitments to addressing education, basic health care, access to water, sanitation and employment.

 

Pointing out indirectly that doomsday predictions of mass starvation have not come about, Archbishop Migliore said that relatively high African birth rates are a potential economic boon. “The increased birth rates in Africa over the last decades have been identified by experts as lowering the elderly dependency ratio and presenting the population with a plentiful workforce capable of providing the Continent with an unprecedented advantage in economic terms over regions whose ageing populations show growing economic challenges,” he said.

 

Archbishop Migliore concluded by restating the Holy See’s position on abortion. “My delegation reaffirms its reservations made at the Cairo and Beijing Conferences as well as its consistent affirmation that abortion is not a legitimate form of sexual and reproductive health, rights or services.”