Do your bit: Focus on days highlighting international issues International Days and Observances
World Population Day
2023 Theme
Unleashing the Power of gender equality:
Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world's infinite possibilities
11 July
Ten years ago, 179 governments committed to the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) by signed to it. The ICPD prescribes the steps that will not only save millions of women’s lives but empower societies to achieve a better future.

After growing very slowly for most of human history, the world's population more than doubled in the last half century and will cross the six billion mark in late 1999. Moreover, population is still increasing by about 78 million people a year, despite the trend worldwide towards smaller families. Total population size will likely grow for at least the next 40 years and by at least another 1.5 billion people. Almost all of this growth is occurring in the developing regions; most industrialized countries are growing very slowly or not at all, while in a few countries, population size is declining.

Population Trends Current estimates indicate that roughly 83 million people are being added to the world’s population every year. Even assuming that fertility levels will continue to decline, the global population is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, according to the United Nations.

Worldwide, the largest group of young women ever is entering their childbearing years, requiring an expansion of family planning services to meet their needs and enable more couples to have the smaller families they desire. In the long term, smaller families will contribute to individual and family well-being, to a slowdown in population growth rates, and to sustainable economic development1.

In the final analysis, the number of people on earth is not the real story. The real story is improving the quality of life of every one. A number of interconnected issues play a critical role in today's world: sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and youth, gender and human rights, family planning and safe motherhood, environmental protection, employment and economic development et al.

International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action.

COUNTRIES ARE TAKING ACTION TO:

  • Enact laws and policies to protect
  • the rights of women and girls
  • Ensure equal access to primary education for girls and boys
  • Ensure universal access to reproductive health services as part of basic primary health care
  • Empower women and girls socially and economically
  • Prevent HIV infection
  • End gender-based violence
Full text: http://www.unfpa.org/icpd/icpd_poa.htm

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 recognize that this mission is closely interrelated with demographic trends including population growth, ageing, migration and urbanization.

- António Guterres, UN Secretary General

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