By Dr Than Lwin Tun
WORLD Population Day, which seeks to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues, was established by the then-Governing Council of the United Nations Development Program in 1989, an outgrowth of the interest generated by the Day of Five Billion, which was observed on 11 July 1987.
By resolution 45/216 of December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly decided to continue observing World Population Day in order to enhance awareness of population issues, including their relations to the environment and development.
The Day was first marked on 11 July 1990 in more than 90 countries. Since then, UNFPA country offices and other organizations and institutions commemorate World Population Day, in partnership with governments and civil society.
On 11 July 1987, World Population Day was put forward in public attention as the world’s population surpassed the five billion mark. World Population Day was commemorated and recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1990. Since then, the day has been observed and acknowledged every year.
World Population Day is marked on 11 July and it is an annual event. The main purpose of marking such a day is to bring awareness about the rising global population and the issues and problems that arise with such overpopulation. The event was first suggested by Dr Zacharia in his capacity as a demographer at the World Bank. It was during his term; that the population crossed the five billion mark.
So, in 1989, the governing council of UNDP (United Nations Development Program) decided to mark every July 11 as World Population Day. Therefore, this day is being marked for over three decades in various ways by all the participating nations of the United Nations.
The UN Population Division collaborates closely with the agencies, funds, programs and bodies of the United Nations system in the implementation of the work program on population and in the follow-up to the International Conference on Population and Development. United Nations missions, national Government offices, United Nations offices, researchers, media representatives and the public regularly consult the Population Division regarding population estimates and projections and information and analyses on population and development issues.
At its thirty-eighth session, the Statistical Commission requested the United Nations Statistics Division and other international agencies to increase their technical assistance to national statistical offices in order to strengthen national capacity for the implementation of the 2010 World Program on Population and Housing Censuses. In addition, the Commission requested countries to begin implementation of the revised Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses.
World Population Day 2022 Theme is “A world of eight billion: Towards a resilient future for all - Harnessing opportunities and ensuring rights and choices for all”.
In 2011, the world reached a population of seven billion. This year, the number will hit 8 billion, prompting the attendant responses. Some will marvel at the advancements in health that have extended lifespans, reduced maternal mortality and child mortality and given rise to vaccine development in record time. Others will tout technological innovations that have eased our lives and connected us more than ever. Still, others will herald gains in gender equality.
But progress is not universal, throwing inequality into razor-sharp relief. Women are still dying in childbirth. Gender gaps remain entrenched. The digital divide leaves more women and those in developing countries offline. More recently, COVID-19 vaccines remain unevenly distributed. And the same concerns and challenges raised 11 years ago remain or have worsened: Climate change, violence, and discrimination. The world reached a particularly grim milestone in May: More than 100 million were forcibly displaced worldwide.
Then there will be alarmists claiming that the world is on the verge of either disastrous overpopulation or a catastrophic population collapse. Both sides are likely to call for measures to curtail or induce population growth. But engineering population numbers have not proven successful in the past. Rather, it only serves to undermine human rights, including reproductive rights when women are forced to have more or fewer children against their will or because they don’t have access to the information and services to help them make that decision, which flies in the face of the International Conference of Population and Development Program of Action.
For the first time in history, we are seeing extreme diversity in the mean age of countries and the fertility rates of populations. While the populations of a growing number of countries are ageing and about 60 per cent of the world’s population live in countries with below-replacement fertility of 2.1 children per woman, other countries have huge youth populations and keep growing apace.
But the focus should be on people, not the population. Reducing people to numbers strips them of their humanity. Instead of making the numbers work for systems, make the systems work for the numbers by promoting the health and well-being of people.
According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “Even though the pace of global population growth will continue to decline in the coming decades, the world population is likely to be between 20 and 30 per cent larger in 2050 than in 2020. Having accurate estimates of population trends and reliable forecasts of future changes, including the size of populations and their distributions by age, sex and geographical location, is required for policy formulation and implementation and as a guide to assist countries in following a path towards sustainable development.”
If, for example, fertility is falling, is it because prospective parents worry about how they will provide for a family, find affordable living space or how going on maternity leave might hamper a mother’s career trajectory? If fertility is rising, is it by choice or because women don’t have knowledge of or access to modern contraception? Making sure everyone is counted can allow governments to better assess the needs of a changing population and chart a surer path to addressing those needs for demographic resilience.
In an ideal world, eight billion people mean eight billion opportunities for healthier societies empowered by rights and choices. But the playing field is not and has never been even. Based on gender, ethnicity, class, religion, sexual orientation, disability and origin, among other factors, too many are still exposed to discrimination, harassment and violence. We do ourselves no favours when neglecting those left behind.
Let no alarmist headline distract from the work at hand: investing in human and physical capital for inclusive, productive societies that uphold human and reproductive rights. Only then can we tackle the enormous challenges facing our planet and forge a world where health, dignity and education are rights and realities, not privileges and empty promises. In a world of 8 billion, there must always be space for possibility.
In addition, World Population Day is a United Nations initiative that the entire world celebrates on the 11th of July every year. Furthermore, the aim of this day is to create awareness about the exploding world population and the importance of reproductive health.
References
http://www.un.org
http://www.firstpost.com
http://www.unfpa.org
