World Population Day
In 1989, the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme recommended that 11th July be observed by the international community as World Population Day, a day to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues.
Current estimates indicate that roughly 83 million people are being added to the world’s population every year. Even assuming that fertility levels will continue to decline, the global population is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, according to the medium-variant projection.
Why World Population Day is celebrated
The aim of the celebration is to pay great attention towards the reproductive health problems of the community people as it is the leading cause of the ill health as well as the death of the pregnant women worldwide. The campaign of the World Population Day every year increases the knowledge and skills of the people worldwide towards their reproductive health and family planning.
Through this great awareness celebration, people are encouraged to take part in the event to know about population issues like importance of family planning towards the increasing population, gender equality, maternal and baby health, poverty, human rights, right to health, sexuality education, use of contraceptives and safety measures like condoms, reproductive health, adolescent pregnancy, girl child education, child marriage, sexually transmitted infections, etc.
Sexuality related issues are very necessary to solve among youth, especially those between 15 to 19 years of age. Access to safe, voluntary family planning is a human right. It is also central to gender equality and women’s empowerment, and is a key factor in reducing poverty. Investments in making family planning available also yields economic and other gains that can propel development forward.
Theme for 2019
This year's World Population Day calls for global attention to the unfinished business of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. Twenty-five years have passed since that landmark conference, where 179 governments recognized that reproductive health and gender equality are essential for achieving sustainable development.
International Conference on Population and Development, a 1994 meeting held in Cairo where 179 governments adopted a revolutionary Programme of Action and called for women’s reproductive health and rights to take centre stage in national and global development efforts.
Specifically, the Programme of Action called for all people to have access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including voluntary family planning, safe pregnancy and childbirth services, and the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.
It also recognized that reproductive health and women’s empowerment are intertwined, and that both are necessary for the advancement of society.
“The full and equal participation of women in civil, cultural, economic, political and social life, at the national, regional and international levels, and the eradication of all forms of discrimination on grounds of sex, are priority objectives of the international community,” the Programme of Action affirmed.
Nine standards to uphold the human right to family planning
- Non-discrimination: Family planning information and services cannot be restricted on the basis of race, sex, language, religion, political affiliation, national origin, age, economic status, place of residence, disability status, marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Available: Countries must ensure that family planning commodities and services are accessible to everyone.
- Accessible: Countries must ensure that family planning commodities and services are accessible to everyone.
- Acceptable: Contraceptive services and information must be provided in a dignified manner, respecting both modern medical ethics and the cultures of those being accommodated.
- Good quality: Family planning information must be clearly communicated and scientifically accurate.
- Informed decision-making: Every person must be empowered to make reproductive choices with full autonomy, free of pressure, coercion or misrepresentation.
- Privacy and confidentiality: All individuals must enjoy the right to privacy when seeking family planning information and services.
- Participation: Countries have an obligation to ensure the active and informed participation of individuals in decisions that affect them, including health issues.
- Accountability: Health systems, education systems, leaders and policymakers must be accountable to the people they serve in all efforts to realize the human right to family planning.
Objective of celebrations
Some of the objectives of celebrating the world population day are
- It is celebrated to protect and empower youths of both gender like girls and boys.
- To offer them detail knowledge about the sexuality and delay marriages till they become able to understand their responsibilities.
- Educate youths to avoid unwanted pregnancies by using reasonable and youth friendly measures.
- Educate people to remove the gender stereotypes from society.
- Educate them about the pregnancy related illnesses to raise the public awareness about dangers of early childbirth.
- Educate them about STD (sexually transmitted diseases) to get prevented from various infections.
- Make sure about the access of equal primary education to both girls and boys.
- Make sure the easy access of reproductive health services everywhere as part the basic primary health for each couple.
How World Population Day is celebrated
World population day is celebrated at international level by organizing variety of activities and events to draw attention of mass people to work together on the issues of growing population. Some of the activities include seminar discussions,educational information sessions, essay writing competition, public contests on various topics, poster distribution, songs, sports activity, speeches, poems, artwork, slogans, themes and messages distribution, workshops, lectures, debates, round table discussions, news distribution through press conferences, TV channels and news channels, relay of population related programmes on radio and television and so many. Various health organizations and population divisions works together to solve population issues by organizing conferences, research works, meetings, project analysis and etc.
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