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Why JULY 11?
It was inspired by the public interest in Five Billion Day on July 11, 1987, approximately the date on which the world's population reached five billion people.
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The theme of this year’s World Population Day -- men as partners for maternal health -- focuses attention on the fundamental role of men in supporting women’s rights, including their right to sexual and reproductive health.
UNFPA Executive Director, Thoraya Obaid, remarks "All over the world, young people want to be heard and involved. They possess the ideas, determination and energy to accelerate effective action to reduce poverty and inequality....It is clear that the Millennium Development Goals will not be met unless young people are actively involved in policymaking and programming, their voices are heard, their needs are met and their human rights are respected".
Pregnancy and Childbirth.
Today too many women die needlessly from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Every minute, another woman loses her life. Every minute, the loss of a mother shatters a family and threatens the well-being of surviving children. And for every woman who dies, 20 or more women experience serious complications such as obstetric fistula.
World leaders have committed themselves to improving maternal health and advancing gender equality. And men can make a tremendous contribution by using their power for positive change. Men have power in wide-ranging situations from personal and family decisions to policy and programme decisions taken at all levels of Government.
Several countries have succeeded in significantly reducing maternal death rates in the space of a decade, when women gained access to family planning, midwives and backup emergency obstetric care. However, much more needs to be done to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of improving maternal health around the world by 2015. Partnering with men is an important strategy for advancing reproductive health and rights. And gender equality, another Millennium Development Goal, is most likely to be achieved when men recognize that the lives of men and women are interdependent and that the empowerment of women benefits everyone.
United Nations Population Fund
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, supports safe motherhood initiatives around the world. We work with governments and other partners to ensure that every woman has access to three reproductive health services that save women’s lives. These are voluntary family planning, skilled attendance at birth, and emergency obstetric care if complications arise during delivery.
In countries where these services are widely available, more mothers and babies are surviving.
Experience shows that men’s involvement and participation can make all the difference. By discouraging early marriage, promoting girls’ education, fostering equitable relationships, and supporting women’s reproductive health and rights, progress is made.
Solidarity
on World Population Day, it is time for all men—as fathers, brothers, husbands, community and religious leaders, and government officials—to become partners in maternal health. Together we can make this the last day that 1,440 women died during pregnancy and childbirth. Let us go forward with the message: No woman should die giving life. And let us do all we can to promote the right of every woman to enjoy a life of health, dignity and equal opportunity.
On this World Population Day, let us all encourage men to become partners and agents for change, supporting human rights and safe motherhood in every way possible, thus contributing to creating a world of greater health and opportunity for all.
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