On today’s World Population Day, the UNFPA Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia stressed the need for responses to the demographic shifts countries in the region are facing to be based on sound evidence and human rights.

For humanity to progress, people must be counted, wherever they are and whoever they are – in all their diversity. To end inequality, to find and grow peace and prosperity, to weave more threads of hope, the world needs to do more for inclusion.

Florence Bauer is the Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. UNFPA supports countries in the region in strengthening their resilience to demographic change.