Every year, July 11th is celebrated as the World Population Day. It was established by the then Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989. It is been celebrated for almost three decades now, and has a theme every year. Read on to know more about this year’s theme, and why it is imperative to make the global community aware of the problems caused by over-population.
What is it?
While many people are still unaware of this day, but its goal is to spread awareness about the issues caused due to increase in population worldwide. The inspiration for this special day comes from the interest that was raised by “Five Billion Day” on 11th July, 1987; this was the day that world population reached 5 billion. The theme last year was “Family Planning is a Human Right”. It was chosen because 2018 marked the 50th anniversary of a 1968 Human Rights Conference that focused on family planning.
What is the theme for 2019?
The theme for this year’s World Population Day is “25 years of the ICPD: Accelerating the Promise”. ICPD stands for International Conference on Population and Development –a conference held by United Nations in Cairo, Egypt in 1994. ICPD is monumental because 179 governments came together and adopted a profound Programme of Action that called for women’s reproductive health and rights to be one of the pillars on which national and global development efforts should be built.
What is the significance of the theme?
25 years have passed since that landmark conference, and it has become all the more important to focus on the fact that reproductive health and gender equality are essential for sustainable development, and an effective solution for population control. Basically, the Programme of Action stated that all people should have access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare –this includes voluntary family planning, safe pregnancy and childbirth, and the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections. Looking at the global climate crisis we are facing right now, over-population and the issues related to it need our attention on an ad hoc basis.
What is the future plan?
In November, 2019, The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), along with the governments of Kenya and Denmark, will be assembling a high-level conference in Nairobi. The conference will be focusing on accelerating the political and financial commitments that were stated in the Programme of Action and are still unmet.
Do your bit, spread awareness, the world could really benefit from our conscious decisions.
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