Morning Briefing

The Washington Post examines how "Pakistan's family planning efforts have lagged far behind those of other large Muslim-majority nations," despite rising population numbers. "In fits and starts, public and private agencies in Pakistan are advocating contraception to curb the country's surging population, prevent deaths during childbirth and help provide better lives for those who are born. But in this deeply conservative society, women themselves are often the least able to decide, and the people who can -- husbands, mullahs, mothers-in-law -- still prize many children, particularly boys," the newspaper writes. "The sixth most populous country ..., Pakistan has South Asia's highest fertility rate, at about four children per woman," but "[t]oday, just one in five Pakistani women ages 15 to 49 uses modern birth control," the newspaper notes (Brulliard, 12/14). "In Pakistan, where the powerful military consumes a large chunk of the budget and development spending has stagnated, family-planning efforts have consistently fallen victim to tumultuous and weak governance," the newspaper notes, adding, "The bigger cultural hurdles, the workers say, are husbands and mothers-in-law, as well as the inability of many women to make decisions for themselves." It concludes, "Amid massive electricity shortfalls, failing schools, high unemployment and rising Islamist militancy, many here say the booming population is a ticking time bomb" (Brulliard, 12/14).