World Population Day is annually remembered on the 11th of July. It aims to tell the seriousness of the population issue among general people. The population is one of the major challenges for the world. It is the root cause of many social and economical crises. Poverty and Unemployment are two big issues that are caused by overpopulation. World Population Day is a Humanitarian event established for raising awareness among the general public. It is a social appeal to the world for the rising population and its possible consequences.
World Population Day 2020
World Population Day 2020 will be observed on 11th July, Saturday. The theme for World Population Day 2020 is yet not officially declared.
Brief History
Annually World Population Day is celebrated on the 11th of July throughout the world. It is celebrated to raise awareness among the general public for the global issue of population. World Population Day was established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989. On 11th July 1987, the world population was reached approximately five Billion.
So, 11 July 1987 was marked as Five Billion Day and it raised a general public interest for establishing such serious worldwide issues. When the world population reached Five Billion, several demographers suggested that there should a day reflecting the worldwide issue of the rising population. Dr. K.C. Zachariah (Senior Demographer at World Bank) suggested establishing the World Population Day. World Population Day aims to combat population issues. There are various population issues in our society.
How the Event is Commemorated?
World Population Day is established for raising awareness among society for the issue of population. It is an International level event, on the eve of World Population Day various awareness campaigns and similar events are observed around the globe.
Various seminars and symposiums are conducted by Non-Profit Organizations (NGOs) around the globe. Awareness campaigns are organized in rural and urban areas for telling the consequences of overpopulation. Various organizations raise their voice by conducting poster making, slogan writing, drawing, and similar public activities.
On Television channels, Talk Shows are organized on the eve of World Population Day. Various Social Media Platforms shares informative messages and pictures regarding World Population Day. Meetings, Research Works, Population analysis works, etc. are discussed on the eve of World Population Day.
Objectives and Significance of World Population Day
World Population Day aims to aware of people across the globe on the issue of rising population and related social and financial issues. One of the biggest challenges for the world is overpopulation; World Population Day aims to tell the consequences of the overpopulated city or any place. If the per square Kilometers footfall is more than the capacity of the particular area, more problems will be faced by the people living there.
Poverty, Unemployment, Health Issues, cleanliness, and all other social issues will arise due to overpopulation. Another goal behind the establishment of World Population Day is to tell the importance of Birth control to society.
United Nations Population Fund is an organization established to raise awareness among the public for supporting family planning and related birth control methods. World Population Day also focuses on the underpopulation issue. It also focuses to access equal literacy and primary education to girls and boys both. World Population Day also aims to tell health issues like STDs and their root cause.
Access to primary health services related to reproductive health in females. The education-related to consequences of early childbirth and early marriage is one of the biggest challenges in rural areas. World Population Day is a global campaign that aims to appeal to the eradication of such issues from the world.
UNFPA states: Non-Discrimination, Available, Accessible, Acceptable, Good Quality, Informed Decision-Making, Privacy, Participation, and accountability are the nine standards to uphold the human right to family planning.
In a survey, it is found that every day every second 4.2 people are born and 1.8 people die. It is predicted that, in 2050, 70% of people out of the total world’s population will live in urban areas. India holds the second rank in terms of Population. It is said that by the end of the year 2020-2030 India will become the first largest populated country.
As per 2020, the Population Growth Rate is recorded by 1.05%. As per census report, the current world population is 7.8 Billion.
From the historical facts, the world population was only 400 million in 1000 AD. In the year 1804, it crossed 1 Billion and in the year 1960, it was recorded 3 Billion. In the year 2000, the population jumped to 6 Billion.
World Population Day Themes
Annually, World Population Day is celebrated on 11th July throughout the world. Every year the celebration is based on a special theme. Let’s have a look at some of the previous years’ theme of World Population Day:
The theme of the year 2018: “Family Planning is a Human Right”
The theme of the year 2017: “Family Planning: Empowering People, Developing Nations”
The theme of the year 2016: “Investing in teenage girls”
The theme of the year 2015: “Vulnerable Populations in Emergencies”
The theme of the year 2014: “A time to reflect on population trends and related issues” and “Investing in Young People”
The theme of the year 2013: “Focus is on Adolescent Pregnancy”
The theme of the year 2012: “Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services”
The theme of the year 2011: “7 Billion Actions”
The theme of the year 2010: “Be Counted: Say What You Need”
31 Years of World Population Day
The global population has always been a matter of concern. Before the first observation of World Population Day, there was seen an increase of less than 2% in the world population. It became a problem when the rate of increase in population exceeded the graph of 2% around the year 1966 and continued till 1972. It led the global authority to think about the serious problem that they were about to face in the future.
Perhaps, it was the reason to present World Population Day as a global event to combat the ongoing problem globally. It was surprising to see that the rate of increase in pollution started decreasing since then and fell below 2%. In the past 31 years of the celebration of the event, the rate of increase in the world population has continuously decreased and has reached around 1% by now (2020). It is a good sign for all of us, but at the same time, we need to work harder to reduce it as much as possible.
Future Expectations
As we all know, the increasing population is not just a national but a global problem. It won’t be wrong to say that it is the mother of the other major problems on earth. How the rate of the increase in the world population is decreasing year by year, we can expect better scenery of the earth in the future. Despite all this, we should not forget our responsibilities towards saving the earth. Only a balanced population can survive with the available resources on earth. Now it is on us whether we want to survive here or suffer.
Our Responsibilities/Voice of Youths
Definitely, it is on us whether we control the population or not. It is our responsibility to control the population and keep the earth alive. We should be aware of the social issues and know the methods of population control like family planning, avoiding unwanted pregnancy, etc. There is also an option of adopting a child for those who don’t want to be real parents.
There are some families who don’t have any pre-planning of the number of children in the family. They should adopt one family one children policy and use all the resources to nurture him the best. Even the government has released many schemes related to population control which we can avail easily and anywhere. All these are for us and our future.
Conclusion
World Population Day is based on the serious challenge of the rising populations across the world. People around the globe should be aware of the fact that the rising population is the root cause of various social issues present in the world. For raising awareness among people around the globe UN takes the initiative of establishment of World Population Day.