NEW YORK, 29 September 2026 — Speaking at a UN General Assembly (UNGA81) high-level event, “Demographic Resilience: Investing in Human Capital for Sustainable Futures,” organized by the Government of Uzbekistan in partnership with UNFPA, H.E. Ms. Saida Mirziyoyeva, Head of the Presidential Administration of Uzbekistan, and H.E. Ms. Diene Keita, Executive Director of UNFPA, announced that Uzbekistan and UNFPA will jointly convene the Global Forum on Demographic Resilience and Human Capital in Uzbekistan in 2028.
The announcement marks an important step in elevating demographic resilience on the global development agenda. Across regions, countries are confronting profound demographic transformations—from rapid population growth and the large and growing younger generations to population ageing, declining fertility, migration and emerging opportunities for unlocking human capital. These shifts are not simply demographic trends; they are shaping the economic, social and geopolitical futures of nations.
Demographic resilience means anticipating and responding to these changes while harnessing the opportunities they create. It requires investing in people throughout their lives and using high-quality demographic data and foresight to inform long-term national strategies.
The 2028 Global Forum will provide a platform for governments, international organizations, development partners, experts, the private sector and civil society to move from analysis to action—sharing evidence, mobilizing partnerships and identifying scalable solutions that enable countries to anticipate demographic change and translate it into gains in human capital and sustainable prosperity.
“Demographic change is not simply a challenge to manage,” said Diene Keita, UNFPA Executive Director. “It is an opportunity to invest in people, strengthen economies, empower women and young people, build resilience and unlock demographic dividends. This Forum is about turning demographic change into opportunity — investing in people's rights and potential and building the resilient, prosperous societies of the future.”
Uzbekistan and UNFPA are committed to shaping this forward-looking global agenda together. The Forum will build on Uzbekistan’s growing leadership on population and demographic issues as a foundation for realizing human capital potential, and will serve as a strategic platform for advancing a new generation of policies that place people, choice, opportunity and resilience at the heart of development.
By bringing the global community together in Uzbekistan in 2028, we aim not only to respond to demographic change, but to shape the demographic future we want—one that is more resilient, inclusive, prosperous and sustainable.
UNFPA’s work on demographic resilience
UNFPA helps countries adapt to and plan for demographic change while protecting the rights and choices of their populations. It works with countries across the full demographic spectrum – from youthful, fast-growing populations seeking to harness the demographic dividend of economic growth from large populations of working age people, to rapidly ageing societies facing labour shortages, fiscal pressures and population decline.
