Contact: Don Feder, 508-405-1337, dfeder@rcn.com; Lisa Youngblood, 815-964-5819, lisa@worldcongress.org; both with World Congress of Families 

ROCKFORD, Ill., May 27, 2011 /Standard Newswire/ -- The first summit on the worldwide phenomenon of rapidly declining birthrates -- The Moscow Demographic Summit: Family and The Future of Humankind -- will take place at the Russian State Social University, June 29-30, sponsored by the World Congress of Families.

World Congress of Families Managing Director Larry Jacobs noted: "Russia is ground-zero for demographic winter. With an average birthrate of 2.1 children per woman needed just to replace current population, Russia’s is only 1.2. Little wonder Russia's population has declined from 148.5 million in 1995 to 143 million today. Some demographers believe it could fall below 120 million by mid-point in this century. Adding to the tragedy, it's estimated that there are 4 million abortions a year in Russia, and only 1.7 million live births."

The Summit will include discussions of The Demographic Potential of Russia -- The Importance of Pro-Family Public Policy in Russia and the West -- Demographic Indicators of Developed and Developing Nations -- The Crisis of Family: Marriage, Abortion and Contraception -- The International Population Control Movement -- The Economic Impact of Declining Birthrates -- Human Capital and Family-Friendly Business Practices -- and Population Aging and Ways to Overcome This and Other Demographic Challenges.

International speakers confirmed include: Allan Carlson (historian of the family, International Secretary, World Congress of Families; Visiting Professor, Hillsdale College), Anita Smith (Children's AIDS Fund) , Anna Zaborska (Member of EU Parliament), Cristina Burelli (Alliance for the Family), Don Feder  (WCF Director of Communications, formerly a syndicated columnist for 19 years), Peggy Hartshorn (President, Heartbeat International), Ewa Kowalewska (Human Life International, Poland), James Kushner (Fellowship of St. James, Touchstone Magazine), Janice Crouse, PhD. (Concerned Women for America, former U.S. Representative to UN),   John Mueller (Ethics and Public Policy Center), Larry Jacobs (Managing Director, WCF; Vice President, The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society), Maria Sofia Aguirre (Professor of Economics, Catholic University), Patrick Fagan, PhD (Family Research Council), Phillip Longman (demographer, author of "Empty Cradle: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity") , Shepherd Smith (Institute for Youth Development), Steven Mosher, PhD, (demographer, Population Research Institute), Tobias Teuscher (advisor to the EU Parliament), and Francisco Tatad (former majority leader, Philippine Senate).

Among the distinguished Russian speakers are: Metropolitan Hilarion (Foreign Affairs coordinator of the Russian Orthodox Church), Dr. Vassily Zhukov (Rector, Russian State Social University), Bishop Panteleimon (Russian Orthodox Church Social and Charitable Activities), Fr Dimitry Smirnov (ROC - Bioethics Commission), Natalia Yakunina (Sanctity of Motherhood Program, Center of National Glory), Fr Maxim Obukhov (Russian pro-life leader), Rostislav Ordovsky-Blanco (owner of Rosinter restaurant chain), Fr Vsevolod, Professor Anatoly Antonov (demographer, Moscow State Lomonosov University) and Igor Beloborodov, PhD (Institute of Demographic Research).

The Summit's VIP Host Committee also includes: Princess Maria-Anna Galitzine, Metropolitan Hilarion, Rostislav Ordovsky-Tanaevsky Blanco, Mrs. Natalia Yakunina and Rector, Dr. Vassily I. Zhukov.

Jacobs cautioned: "Falling birthrates worldwide, which threaten the very fabric of society, could be the most daunting challenge facing humanity in the 21st century. Far from an exploding population bomb, the demographic reality of this century will be a birth-dearth. If civilization is to survive, we must objectively and courageously confront this reality and devise family-centered solutions to this global crisis in the making."

Jacobs said special thanks go to Alexey Komov -- head of the WCF Representative Office in Russia and the CIS, and organizer of the Demographic Summit -- and Russian State Social University Rector Vasily I. Zhukov.

For the website of the Moscow Demographic Summit (in English and Russian) -- including registration information -- click here (www.worldcongress.ru).

For More Information on World Congress of Families, go to www.worldcongress.org.  To schedule an interview with Larry Jacobs, contact Don Feder at 508-405-1337, dfeder@rcn.com or Lisa Youngblood at 815-964-5819, lisa@worldcongress.org 

The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and people of goodwill from more than 60  countries that seek to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society (as found in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948).  The WCF was founded in 1997 by Allan Carlson and is a project of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society in Rockford, Illinois.  To date, there have been five World Congresses of Families -- Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004), Warsaw, Poland (2007) and Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2009).  World Congress of Families VI will be held in Madrid, Spain in May 25-27, 2012.