Refugees now 60m

Bangladeshis are living longer than those in most Saarc countries.

Life expectancy of males in the country is now 69.85 years while that of women is 72.26 years, according to a report of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Among the eight member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Bangladesh lags behind only Maldives and Sri Lanka in terms of life expectancy.

The report says one billion people or about 14 percent of the world's population live in areas of conflict, and an estimated 59.5 million people have been displaced due to crises.

The UNFPA yesterday launched its State of the World Population 2015 Report titled "Shelter from the Storm: A Transformative Agenda for Women and Girls in a Crisis-Prone World."

More than 100 million people across the globe are in need of humanitarian assistance -- the highest number since the end of World War II. An estimated 26 million of them are women and adolescent girls of reproductive age.

"Protecting the health and rights of women and adolescents is not only critical to weathering the worsening storm of wars and natural disasters, but can also accelerate recovery from crises," it says.The report also projects some pleasant facts about youths in Bangladesh and beyond.

Currently, 24.5 percent of the world population of 7.34 billion is young and most of them live in developing countries.

In Bangladesh, around 30 percent of the 161 million people are young (10-24 years).

And the fertility rate was 2.2 in the last five years.

The adolescent birth rate in Bangladesh is still high, with 83 births per 1,000 women (aged 15-19), while the global average is 51 births per 1,000.

Contraceptive prevalence rate of women (aged 15-49 years) using any method is 64 percent in the country, meaning these women or their partners are practising any form of contraception.

It says skilled health staff attended around 42 percent births in Bangladesh from 2006 to 2014 against the global average of 71.

The report called for a four-point transformative agenda for humanitarian assistance, including recognising women's health and rights, stepping up investment in prevention and preparedness, and removing the wall between humanitarian assistance and development.