World Population Day (WPD) is an annual event, observed on July 11th every year, which seeks to raise awareness about global population issues. The event was established by the Governing Council of United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989. It was inspired by the public interest on Five Billion Day on July 11th 1987, when the world population reached approximately five billion. Need for population stabilization has increasingly become indispensable as population beyond the sustainable limit perpetuate poverty, child labour, school drop outs, malnutrition, infant mortality and morbidity, proliferation of slums and a host of communicable disease, besides creating a dangerous imbalance between resources, environment and population. Hence, the efforts towards population stabilization must be an integral element of development process in all countries, which is essential for ensuring a higher quality of life of people. As the problem is multifaceted, the solution also demands contribution from multiple departments and sectors including social welfare, education, women and child development, AYUSH, etc. The theme for this year is “A world of 8 billion: Towards a resilient future for all- Harnessing opportunities and ensuring rights and choices for all”. 200 years ago, there were less than one billion humans living on earth. Today, according to the UN calculations there are over 7 billion of us. One recent estimate suggest that today’s population size is roughly equivalent to 6.5% of the total number of people ever born. This is the most conspicuous fact about the world population growth: for thousands of years, the population grew only slowly but in recent centuries, it has jumped dramatically. Between 1900 and 2000, the increase in world population was three times greater than during the entire previous history of humanity, an increase from 1.5 to 6.1 billion in just 100 years. How the world population is changing is of great importance for humanity’s impact on the Earth’s natural environment, but it also gives reasons to hope for a good future. This is because we have a bigger team of better educated people who can contribute to the solutions that improve global well-being. A picture of the world population in their very long run shows extremely rapid growth. Indeed, for a long time the world population grew at an increasing rate. However, if we focus on the last couple of decades, we see that this pattern no longer holds, as the annual rate of population growth has been recently going down. 1962 saw the growth rate peak at 2.1% and it has since fallen to almost half. A long historical period of accelerated growth has thus come to an end. Based on these observations, world history vcan be divided into three periods marked by distinct trends in population growth. The first period, pre-modernity was a very long age of very slow population growth. The second period, beginning with the onset of modernity which characterized by rising standards of living and improving health had an increasing growth rate that continued to rise through 1962. Today the second period is over and the third period is unfolding its terror. The population growth rate is falling and will likely continue to fall, leading to an end of population growth towards the end of this century. Edu World believes in educating the youth and public is the most important strategies to maintain our globe and spread awareness about population explosion. Edu world understands the importance of the day and how it is important to protect our world from population outbreak as we run out of resources and living chances. Edu World motivates students to adopt measure against population explosion through conducting various programmes like rallies, seminars and workshops. Reminding public that the issue exists and adequate planning is necessary is the first and basic step to be taken.
