Boys outnumber girls in the world, says UN report

Countries are being urged to invest in girls, as the majority of the world’s 10-year-olds live in developing countries, while boys substantially outnumber girls, a United Nations (UN) report said yesterday.

This year’s State of the World Population report released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) focused on the well being of 10-year-old girls as indicators of development success or failure.

“An estimated 125 million 10-year-olds are alive today and among them, over 60 million are girls and 65 million are boys.

“Over half of the global cohort of 10-year-olds live in Asia and the Pacific, where there are 111 boys for 100 girls.

“Almost nine in 10 of the world’s 10-year-olds live in developing countries, where girls face obstacles to equal education, healthcare and safety,” the report said.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator and Head of the UNPF’s Jordan country office, Daniel Baker, stated that failure to invest in girls is nothing less than planned poverty, adding: “Unless we invest in girls, we are planning to have a poorer future.”

The report also indicated that the world’s population grew 1.1 per cent this year to 7.433 billion, from 7.349 billion last year.