World Population Day is celebrated every year on 11 July. Its purpose is to draw attention to the growing population. The aim of World Population Day is to increase public awareness on various population issues like importance of family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health and human rights.
History of World Population Day
The idea of celebrating World Population Day was first suggested by Dr. Casey Zacriah. On July 11, 1987, when the population of the world was 5 billion, the United Nations organized an awareness program on 11 July 1989 among the people regarding increasing population and family planning. The United Nations General Assembly decided 11 July as “World Population Day”. More than 90 countries celebrated world Population Day for the first time on 11 July 1990.
ग्लोबल जेंडर गेप इंडेक्स में भारत 146 में से 135 वें स्थान पर
Here are some key points regarding the significance of World Population Day:
Raising Awareness: It’s aims to increase public awareness about population-related issues. It provides an opportunity to educate individuals, communities, and policymakers about the importance of population control and its long-term consequences.
Promoting Reproductive Health: The day emphasizes the significance of reproductive health services. By promoting reproductive health, World Population Day aims to empower individuals and couples to make informed decisions about their family size and spacing between children.
Advocating Gender Equality: Gender equality plays a vital role in population dynamics. World population Day encourages gender equality by promoting women’s rights, empowering women and addressing issues such as child marriage and gender-based violence. Ensuring gender equality enables women to have control over their reproductive choices and contributes to population stabilization.
Sustainable Development: Overpopulation poses challenges to sustainable development, including strain on resources, increased environmental degradation. World Population Day emphasizes the importance of achieving a balance between population growth, resource utilization, and environmental sustainability for the well-being of present and future generations.
Poverty Alleviation: High population growth rates can exacerbate poverty and inequality. World Population Day highlights the link between population dynamics and poverty and advocates for policies and strategies that address poverty alleviation alongside efforts to stabilize population growth. By promoting access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, it aims to break the cycle of poverty.
International Cooperation: World Population Day fosters international cooperation and collaboration among governments, organizations, and individuals to address population-related challenges. It provides a platform for sharing best practices, exchanging knowledge, and developing strategies to promote sustainable development and population control at the global level.
World Population Day Theme 2022
Every year World Population Day is celebrated with a theme. The theme of World Population Day is different every year. World Population Day Theme 2022 is ‘The 8 Billion World: Towards a Resilient Future for All, Seizing Opportunities, Ensuring Rights and Choices for All’. Our country is the second largest populated country in the world after China. According to the data of United Nations Population Fund, India’s population is currently around 1.40 billion. At the same time, the population of China is 1.44 billion. It is estimated that by the year 2023, India will overtake China to become the world’s most populous country.
