Abstract
Since its founding in 1946 in the earliest years of the United Nations, the Population Division has played an active role in supporting and informing the intergovernmental discussion of population issues. The Division is well known as the authoritative source of global population estimates and projections, which are widely used by government planners, academic researchers and the private sector. The publications of the Population Division cover a broad range of topics, including fertility, reproductive health, mortality, international migration, population policies, ageing, urbanisation and the environment. Although the expertise of the Division is widely acknowledged, the challenges of maintaining that expertise in the changing political and academic environments of the 21st century must also be recognised and addressed. The presentation will review the history and current work programme of the Population Division while also discussing priorities and strategies for the future.
