11th July: World Population Day

In 1989, the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme recommended that 11 July be observed by the international community as World Population Day, a day to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues.

UN Council every year decides the theme of World Population Day but in 2019 specific theme is not decided and calls for global attention to the unfinished business of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. The landmark conference held twenty-five years back where 179 governments recognised that reproductive health and gender equality are essential for achieving sustainable development. To achieve these unmet goals, in November, UNFPA together with the governments of Kenya and Denmark will be convening a high-level conference in Nairobi to accelerate the efforts.

Population issue includes family planning, gender equality, child marriage, human rights, right to health, baby’s health etc. Therefore, World Population Day focuses on the importance of reproductive health and how it affects overall growth and development plans and programs.