The focus on birth rates misses the point, writes Alanna Armitage on today’s World Population Day. What matters is building countries where people want to stay, live and have families.

Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem for International Day of the Midwife - 5 May 2021

The State of the World’s Midwifery (SoWMy) 2021 builds on previous reports in the SoWMy series and represents an unprecedented effort to document the whole world’s Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Adolescent Health (SRMNAH) workforce, with a particular focus on midwives. It calls for urgent investment in midwives to enable them to fulfil their potential to contribute towards UHC and the SDG agenda.