The World Population Day is meant to increase awareness about the need to find solutions issues related to growing population. Photo for representational purpose. (Source: File Photo)Every year, July 11 is observed as World Population Day to draw urgent attention towards the growing population. Established by the United Nations Development Programme in 1989, World Population Day finds its inspiration from the interest raised by ‘Five Billion Day’ on July 11, 1987 — the day population reached five billion.
The United Nations recognises World Population day as an important event to spread information regarding population-related issues across the globe.
Unlike every year, this year there is no specific theme but the day aims to draw attention towards maternal health.
Observed since the past three decades, the day is meant to analyse how the population of the world affects our plans and programs, and find plausible solutions towards them.
Given the threat to natural resources and increasing natural calamities, the population of the world poses a risk to sustainability. The day is also marked to celebrate brotherhood towards one another and realise the responsibility of protecting each other.
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The Population Division works closely with agencies, programs, funds and bodies of the UN system in order to execute work program on population.
“The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the world’s blueprint for a better future for all on a healthy planet. On World Population Day, we recognise that this mission is closely inter-related with demographic trends including population growth, ageing, migration and urbanisation,” mentioned UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
As a phenomenon, World Population Day began to be identified after unprecedented decrease in mortality that occurred in developed parts of the world. The day was a major achievement as it escalated life-duration from 30 to 67 years between 1800 and 2005, thus leading to rapid boom in population from 1 billion to 7 billion in 2010.
