Today is World Population Day.

In the year 1810 the world had one billion people. Today, in 2012, the world is a home to more than seven billion people. July 11th was declared as the World Population Day in 1989 as a response to population issues, such as growth, food shortage, and the right to plan a family.

This year’s theme is Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services. The United Nations Population Fund Website (UNFPA) presents the theme well in the following slogan: “Delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.” The slogan illustrates how population issues are not just about the number of births, but that factors such as the human right to plan a family, the mother’s health and wellbeing, and the quality of the baby’s future upbringing must also be recognized.

According to the UNFPA website, there are 222 million women every year who would like to avoid or delay pregnancy but lack access to reproductive health services. In addition, 800 women die every day in the process of giving birth, and every year 1.8 billion adolescents grow up without the knowledge or services that they need in order to protect themselves.

These facts are shocking and instead of the business-political side they highlight the human side of population growth.

There are several lectures, talks, plays, conferences, and films viewings going on in various cities today. For events that are going on in London click here.

Also in July:

Dharma Day – July 3rd

Tags: 7 billion, family planning, gender inequality, Human rights, population growth, UNFPA, women's rights, World Population day

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 11th, 2012 at 9:00 am and is filed under days of significance, General, other interesting stuff, social practices . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.