Brenda Yufeh
10 July 2009
Inaugurated in 1989, the 20th edition of World Population Day will be commemorated this weekend.
Tomorrow, worldwide, the 20th World Population Day will be commemorated under the theme "Responding to the Economic Crisis: Investing in Women is a Smart Choice". Activities in Cameroon will take place in Abong-Mbang, in the East Region. Prelude to the 2009 World Population, Day CT makes an insight to the genesis of the day which started in 1989 by the then UNDP Governing Council which prompted its endorsement by the United Nations General Assembly when the World's Population hit the five billion mark.
Since 1989, World Population Day has been observed annually on July 11, around the world in a bid to raise awareness and to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues, the dangers of overpopulation, how it affects development and the need to find solutions of these issues. That is why on World Population Day, the UN and governments around the world run various educational, sensitisation and advocacy campaigns and activities in order to inform on what is needed for the world to survive with billions more people as well as create an opportunity to build better awareness of population issues and their relations to development.
According to information culled from UNFPA-Cameroon, World Population Day (WPD) focuses on sustainability and how to improve the lives of all people while protecting the earth's resources. The day also aims to increase people's awareness on various population issues such as the importance of family planning including gender equality, poverty, maternal health and human rights. Since the day's inception in 1989 and up to 1995, no specific theme was used to centre celebration but discussions centred on population and development, reproductive health and gender issues amongst others. From 2000 to 2008, commemoration to mark the World Population Day took place under various themes such as "Saving Women's Lives", "Population, Development and the Environment", "More Resources for women and reproductive Health", "One Billion Adolescents: the Right to Health, Information and Services", Caring for Mothers in their Time of Need", "Equality Empowers", "Young People", " Men as Partners in Maternal Health and "It's a right, Let's Make it Real". Experts at UNFPA say the theme of this year: "Responding to the Economic Crisis: Investing in Women is a Smart Choice", is aimed at carefully monitoring the effect of the crisis on access to social services for the poorest.
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