World Population Day: The Importance and Things to Know

11th July, known as "World Population Day". This was initiated and established by United Nations in 1989 and since it has been celebrated on this date every year with a different theme. The day is considered as an important event to spread information on population-related issues across the globe the importance of reproductive health.

World Population Day 2018, focuses on the importance of family planning and the slogan of this year theme is, "Family planning is a human right". This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1968 International Conference on Human Rights, where family planning was, globally affirmed to be a human right and this happened for the first time. According to this “Parents have a basic human right to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children.” Women and girls have the right now to avoid the pregnancy and danger of too many pregnancies, too close together as per their choices.

The aim of this day is to create and increase awareness about reproductive health problems among the people. This is the understanding about how to boost the reproductive health pay attention on the importance of family planning, human rights, right to health, the baby's health, gender equality, child marriage, use of contraceptives, sex education, knowledge about the sexually transmitted disease, etc.

According to UN research on population 2017, India is currently ranked second with 1.3 billion people as the most populous country in the world after China. And the report says that India will surpass China around 2024, within 7 years.

United Nations Population Fund and the World Health Organization have recognized nine standards which need to be followed by every community, and for every individual as well, which includes: non-discrimination, available, accessible, acceptable, good quality, informed decision-making, privacy and confidentiality, participation and accountability.