During the 1980s, population growth outpaced economic development in the Syrian Arab Republic—GDP grew by an average of 2.5 per cent a year, while the population expanded by 3.5 per cent, enough to double the population in one generation. Three-quarters of the country’s 15.6 million people live on the Mediterranean coast, around the capital of Damascus in the western highlands and along the Euphrates River valley, on just 20 per cent of the land area. Most of the country consists of bone-dry, uninhabitable desert.

The fertility transition has now begun. Contraceptive prevalence was 40 per cent in 1993, up from just 5 per cent in 1975. According to a study carried out by the Pan-Arab Project for Child Development (PAPCHILD), the total fertility rate dropped from 7.5 children per woman in the period 1978-1982 to just under five by 1988-1992. Similarly, the infant mortality rate declined significantly, from 107 per 1,000 live births in 1970 to 39 per 1,000 live births in 1995.

The mean age at marriage for women, who often wed at much earlier ages than men, increased from 21 years of age to 25 during the 20-year period 1973-1993. Over the same period of time, the number of students enrolled in primary and secondary schools catapulted from 1.6 million to 3.4 million. The literacy rate for women rose from 55 per cent in 1981 to 70 per cent in 1993.

The government has a keen interest in social and human development. UNFPA’s role has been to support national reproductive health and family planning initiatives.

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