World Population Day 2019: Theme and Significance of the Day That Highlights the Pressing Issue of Overpopulation

Every year July 11 is observed as World Population Day, a day dedicated to the pressing issue our planet is facing. World Population Day was started by the United Nations Development Programme in 1989. "Population" has been a subject of discussion for the longest of times. Right from, "Us two, our two" practice to the promotion of contraceptives, a lot of hard work has gone into reducing the population on the planet, however, but still, a lot needs to be done. When we talk about population, India and China come first in our minds because the two countries are desperately dealing with the problem of overpopulation. World Population Day is celebrated to highlight the importance of controlling population and planning strategies and ways to deal with the problem. It is estimated that the population has reached upto 7.7 billion people as of April 2019 and the statistic is startling.

World Population Day Theme 2019

Every year the UN Council decides the theme of World Population Day, however, the 2019 theme hasn't been decided and it is said that global attention should be given to the unfinished business of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. It is also said that to achieve these unmet goals, UNFPA together with the governments of Kenya and Denmark will be convening a high-level conference in Nairobi to accelerate the efforts.

Significance of World Population Day 2019

World Population Day as the name suggests, the day aims at the global problem of overpopulation that is the current pressing issue. Overpopulation causes umpteen problems, right from the shortage of food and resources to living space and pollution. The day highlights the population issue and ways to deal with it. Especially in countries like India where the birth rate has been higher than the death rate. It is good news that we have been successful in declining the death rates, but we really need to control the birth rates for population control.

The total number of humans currently living in the world is only increasing. The world population has seen a continuous growth following the Great Famine of 1315–1317 and the end of the Black Death in 1350. The highest global population growth rates occurred between 1955 and 1975—peaking to 2.1% between 1965 and 1970.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 10, 2019 10:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).