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Background
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.
By resolution 45/216 of December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly decided to continue observing World Population Day to enhance awareness of population issues, including their relations to the environment and development.
The Day was first marked on 11 July 1990 in more than 90 countries. Since then, a number of a number of UNFPA country offices and other organizations and institutions commemorate World Population Day, in partnership with governments and civil society.
The UN and Population
The UN Population Division collaborates closely with the agencies, funds, programmes and bodies of the United Nations system in the implementation of the work programme on population and in the follow-up to the International Conference on Population and Development. United Nations missions, national Government offices, United Nations offices, researchers, media representatives and the public regularly consult the Population Division regarding population estimates and projections, and information and analyses on population and development issues.
At its thirty-eighth session, the Statistical Commission requested the United Nations Statistics Division and other international agencies to increase their technical assistance to national statistical offices in order to strengthen national capacity for the implementation of the 2010 World Programme on Population and Housing Censuses. In addition, the Commission requested countries to begin implementation of the revised Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses.
UNFPA works with many partners, both within and outside the United Nations system, including Governments, non-governmental organizations, civil society, faith-based organizations, religious leaders and others, to achieve its mission. To better respond to local needs, UNFPA increasingly devotes resources to country-led efforts, placing emphasis on country-focused and country-led implementation to achieve improved results, at the same time addressing mutual accountability and strengthening harmonization and alignment.
UNFPA works to support family planning by: ensuring a steady, reliable supply of quality contraceptives; strengthening national health systems; advocating for policies supportive of family planning; and gathering data to support this work. UNFPA also provides global leadership in increasing access to family planning, by convening partners – including governments – to develop evidence and policies, and by offering programmatic, technical and financial assistance to developing countries.
Rights and choices are the answer: Whether baby boom or bust, the solution to shifting fertility rates lies in prioritizing the reproductive health and rights of all people
In this second year of COVID-19, we are suspended in an in-between state, where parts of the world are emerging from the deep recesses of the pandemic while others are locked in battle with the coronavirus as access to vaccines remains a distant, deadly reality.
The pandemic has compromised health care systems particularly in the area of sexual and reproductive health. While those with access to sexual and reproductive health services historically delay childbearing in times of fiscal uncertainty or crisis, disruptions in supply of contraceptives in combination with lockdowns are predicted to result in a sharp rise in unplanned pregnancies for the most vulnerable. According to UNFPA research in March, an estimated 12 million women experienced disruptions to family planning services.
It also exposed and exacerbated gender-based inequities: gender-based violence increased under lockdown, as did the risk of child marriage and female genital mutilation as programmes to abolish the harmful practices were disrupted. Significant numbers of women left the labour force – their often low-paying jobs were eliminated or caregiving responsibilities for children learning remotely or for homebound older people increased – destabilizing their finances, not just for now but in the long run.
Against this backdrop, many countries are expressing growing concern over changing fertility rates. Historically, alarmism over fertility rates has led to abrogations of human rights. In places with rising populations, harmful policy responses have included coercive family planning and sterilization. In others, access to contraception may be restricted.
UNFPA advises against reactionary policy responses, which can be extremely harmful if they violate rights, health and choices. Instead, the agency calls for prioritizing reproductive health and rights for all through access to information and services in the face of fertility and demographic shifts. During the pandemic, disruptions in sexual and reproductive health services are aggravated where such services are deemed inessential. There are fears that the crisis could be exploited as an excuse for restricting or failing to support women’s and girls’ decision making, agency, freedom of movement or access to health services. Experience has shown UNFPA that responses focused narrowly on fertility often do not work. For instance, financially incentivizing fertility does not lead to sustained higher birth rates in low-fertility countries. Alternatively, demographic changes can present opportunities for holistic responses, for example, through family support and child-care systems accompanied by efforts to ensure higher levels of gender equality.
Ultimately, women must be empowered educationally, economically and politically to exercise choice over their bodies and fertility.
Themes and angles
Continuity of essential services: This World Health Organization survey shows how family planning services was one the most extensively disrupted health services globally.
The effects of the pandemic on maternal and fetal outcomes: A medical review found increases in maternal deaths and stillbirths since the pandemic began, with great disparity between high and low-resource countries.
The impact of COVID-19 on women and girls with disabilities: An impact assessment on how the pandemic undermined sexual reproductive health and rights and the right to bodily autonomy of this particular group.
Upholding the rights and dignity of older persons: The pandemic has wreaked a devastating toll on this generation. This resource lays out a joint programme between UNFPA and other United Nations agencies and civil society stakeholders to improve health care and social services.
Fertility and population ageing in the Asia-Pacific Region: While too early to determine the impact of COVID-19 on fertility in this region, this report delves into potential impacts on trends, patterns and choices. This paper addresses population ageing against a backdrop of low fertility rates.
Responding to demographic changes in Europe and Central Asia: An overview of the Demographic Resilience Programme to address population dynamics in this region.
World Population Trends
It took hundreds of thousands of years for the world population to grow to 1 billion – then in just another 200 years or so, it grew sevenfold. In 2011, the global population reached the 7 billion mark, and today, it stands at about 7.7 billion, and it's expected to grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and 10.9 billion in 2100.
This dramatic growth has been driven largely by increasing numbers of people surviving to reproductive age, and has been accompanied by major changes in fertility rates, increasing urbanization and accelerating migration. These trends will have far-reaching implications for generations to come.
The recent past has seen enormous changes in fertility rates and life expectancy. In the early 1970s, women had on average 4.5 children each; by 2015, total fertility for the world had fallen to below 2.5 children per woman. Meanwhile, average global lifespans have risen, from 64.6 years in the early 1990s to 72.6 years in 2019.
In addition, the world is seeing high levels of urbanization and accelerating migration. 2007 was the first year in which more people lived in urban areas than in rural areas, and by 2050 about 66 per cent of the world population will be living in cities.
These megatrends have far-reaching implications. They affect economic development, employment, income distribution, poverty and social protections. They also affect efforts to ensure universal access to health care, education, housing, sanitation, water, food and energy. To more sustainably address the needs of individuals, policymakers must understand how many people are living on the planet, where they are, how old they are, and how many people will come after them.