At the time of UNFPA’s 25^th Anniversary the World Population is 5.66 billion. It is increasing faster than ever before, by more than 257,000 people every day or about 94 million people and expected to grow to 8.5 billion by 2025.
Throughout the World, governments have recognized the severe stresses that a rapid increase in sheer population nor places on all aspects of economic and social develop Governments are striving to address this rapid growth in population as well as significant changes in the distribution of popular through adoption and implementation of population policies and programmed. A good example of this is the recent official promulgation of the Ethiopian population policy by the Transitional Government of Ethiopia.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) was established in 1969 to assist governments in these endeavors. UNFPA is now the largest multilateral provider of population assistant managing one-third of the world’s aid for population and family planning programmed in the developing countries. UNFPA is also an important multilateral channel for bilateral assistance through which donor countries can direct additional funds to specific programmed and projects. UNFPA is a subsidiary organ of the UNITED NATIONS (UN) General Assembly, and is governed by the same Governing Council (now Executive Board) as the United Nations Development Programmed. In 1990 UNFPA provided support to 138 countries. Ethiopia is one of those countries that had been and still benefitting from UNFPA’s assistance. The allocation to Ethiopia’s population programmed between 1994-1997 is nineteen million US dollars, the largest allocation since the organization started to operate in Ethiopia in 1972.
On 20 October 1994 UNFPA’s 25^th Anniversary will be observed in almost all countries throughout the world. In Ethiopia this occasion will be celebrated by undertaking several activities. i.e. by organizing symposiums for policy makers, holding press conferences, and by disseminating information on population issues.
Apart from such activities, in recognition of UNFPA’s global effort on population issues, the Ethiopian Postal Service of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, in collaboration with the National Office of Population at the Prime Minister’s Office has produced these postal stamps to commemorate UNFPA’s Jubilee Anniversary.