Today is World Population Day.
It is observed on 11 July every year to raise awareness among people about the impact of a growing population and issues including gender equality, the importance of family planning, poverty, maternal health, human rights, etc.
The world in 2020 is at war with one of the greatest pandemics in human history
It has gravely affected daily living especially the lives of women bringing such issues as access to health and maternal care as well as sexual and gender violence to the fore .
11th of July, 1987, the world population hit five billion, and since then, the day has been set aside to raise awareness on population issues.
33 years on, the concern is much wider than just increasing population.
Of top priority to the UNFPA, the UN agency concerned with advocacy on population issues says is the need to achieve:
– Zero unmet need for contraception
– Zero preventable maternal deaths
– Zero gender based violence and harmful practices against women and girls by 2030
The Agency is concerned that the raging Coronavirus pandemic has cut the possibility of achieving this by one-third.
Maternal care has been gravely affected.
As the world commemorates the 2020 world population day, the United Nations Population Fund says the high rate of unattended pregnancies is a major concern.
40 percent of pregnancies in developing countries are unattended to and this usually leads to unsafe abortions
Access to family clinics is therefore important.
The expectation as the world commemorates this day is to continue the advocacy and work on preventable maternal health, access to safe delivery and actionable plans against gender based violence .
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