“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.” -UN.org
“This World Population Day is a reminder that we can achieve the prosperous, peaceful and sustainable future envisioned by the ICPD and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development if we harness the power of every human being on the planet. When we unlock the full potential of women and girls – encouraging and nurturing their desires for their lives, their families and their careers – we galvanize half the leadership, ideas, innovation, and creativity to better society.” – UNFPA.org World Population Day 2023 Statement
The health and wellbeing of mothers and newborns is inextricably linked with a women’s ability and freedom to access reproductive health and family planning services when she chooses. Offering contraceptive counselling and a wide range of modern methods along the continuum of childbirth care has shown to increase contraception use, which enables women to choose when and if to have a baby. Pregnancies that are spaced by at least two years after a live birth and six months after a miscarriage or induced abortion can reduce the risk of complications and adverse newborn outcomes. Maternal survival is also impacted as women who practice healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies are less likely to die in childbirth or from pregnancy complications. Learn more on our Reproductive Health and Family Planning Issues page.
Latest Resources and Events:
- State of the World Population 2023
- Webinar 31 Jul 2023 | Advancing progress towards scalable approaches to improve RMNCH-FP service use among first-time mothers: Results and learning from Bangladesh and Tanzania