By October 12 the world will be home to six billion people, according to the United Nations World Population Report for 1999 titled 6 billion: A Time for Choices . By 2050 this figure will reach the 8.9 billion mark, if women's education and environmental resource management continue to be neglected, says the report (See article: The road ahead , p60).

The report says that the six billion population figure is twice that of 1960 and the present growth rate will continue in less-developed regions well into the 21st century. Regarding the status of women, the report states that international assistance for development of women has dropped from us $61 billion in 1992 to us $48 billion in 1997. "As many as half of all women are subjected to gender-based violence at some point in their lives and violence against women is endemic in all countries,' says the report.