FAMILY PLANNING IS A HUMAN RIGHT (WORLD POPULATION DAY 2018)

WORLD POPULATION DAY 2018

2018 World Population Day is on Wednesday, 11 July. Theme: FAMILY PLANNING IS A HUMAN RIGHT - Afrihealth Optonet Nigeria

World Population Day: 11 July 2018. The tremendous interest generated by the Day of 5 Billion on 11 July 1987 led to the establishment of World Population Day as an annual event. For more than 20 years, the 11th of July has been an occasion to mark the significance of population trends and related issues.

World Population day is an annual event, observed on July 11 every year, which seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. The event was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989.

World Population day is an annual event, observed on July 11 every year, which seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. The event was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programmein 1989. It was inspired by the public interest in Five Billion Day on July 11, 1987, the approximate date on which the world's population reached five billion people. World Population Day aims to increase people's awareness on various population issues such as the importance of family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health and human rights.

The day was suggested by Dr KC Zachariah in which population reaches Five Billion when he worked as Sr Demographer at World Bank.

While press interest and general awareness in the global population surges only at the increments of whole billions of people, the world population increases by 100 million approximately every 14 months. The world population reached 7,400,000,000 on February 6, 2016; the world population had reached 7,500,000,000 at around 16:21 on April 24, 2017.^[2]

World Population Day, which seeks to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues, was established by the then-Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989, an outgrowth of the interest generated by the Day of Five Billion, which was observed on 11 July 1987.

2018 theme: “Family Planning is a Human Right”

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1968 International Conference on Human Rights, where family planning was, for the first time, globally affirmed to be a human right.

The conference’s outcome document, known as the Teheran Proclamation, stated unequivocally: “Parents have a basic human right to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children.”

Embedded in this legislative language was a game-changing realization: Women and girls have the right to avoid the exhaustion, depletion and danger of too many pregnancies, too close together. Men and women have the right to choose when and how often to embrace parenthood — if at all. Every individual has the human right to determine the direction and scope of his or her future in this fundamental way.

Nine standards to uphold the human right to family planning:

• Non-discrimination: Family planning information and services cannot be restricted on the basis of race, sex, language, religion, political affiliation, national origin, age, economic status, place of residence, disability status, marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Available: Countries must ensure that family planning commodities and services are accessible to everyone.
• Accessible: Countries must ensure that family planning commodities and services are accessible to everyone.
• Acceptable: Contraceptive services and information must be provided in a dignified manner, respecting both modern medical ethics and the cultures of those being accommodated.
• Good quality: Family planning information must be clearly communicated and scientifically accurate.
• Informed decision-making: Every person must be empowered to make reproductive choices with full autonomy, free of pressure, coercion or misrepresentation.
• Privacy and confidentiality: All individuals must enjoy the right to privacy when seeking family planning information and services.
• Participation: Countries have an obligation to ensure the active and informed participation of individuals in decisions that affect them, including health issues.
• Accountability: Health systems, education systems, leaders and policymakers must be accountable to the people they serve in all efforts to realize the human right to family planning.