World Population Day 2022: History, significance, theme of the annual event

The World Population Day is celebrated on July 11 every year. It is known as an initiative to spread awareness about the importance of population issue across the globe.

The day is also observed to create awareness about child marriage, gender equality, human rights and the importance of family planning among other issues.

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According to statistics, the world population currently stands at 7.96 billion and it is expected to grow nearly 8.5 billion in 2030.

Theme for World Population Day 2022

The theme for World Population Day 2022 is ‘A world of 8 billion: Towards a resilient future for all – Harnessing opportunities and ensuring rights and choices for all”.

According to the theme, there are about 8 billion people living on Earth today but not all of them have equal rights and opportunities. Many people still face harassment, discrimination and violence on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity, class, religion, disability and country of origin.

As we continue to multiply, the issue of overpopulation has become more serious than ever. Emerging nations are now witnessing increase in problems related to gender inequality and human rights violations.

History of World Population Day

The World Population Day was started with the United Nation’s General Assembly in 1989.

It was on July 11, 1987 that the world population stats crossed 5 billion. It was then decided to observe the World Population Day on a global scale so that more awareness can be created around the growing population.

The World Population Day was later commemorated by the UN General Assembly in 1990 with Resolution 45/26.

Significance of World Population Day

The main reason for celebrating the World Population Day is to generate awareness around the issues that may rise along with the rising population. The objective is to spread awareness about how overpopulation can harm the ecosystem.

Topics of discussion on this annual day include, family planning, poverty, sexual equality, civil rights, maternal health, among many others.