The Daily Sun | 12 July 2018

7.6 billions or more! The Mother Earth is carrying more than 7 billion children. The population of the world is increasing at a dangerous weight rate. In order to create and increase awareness on this daunting issue, an annual event was established by the then-Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989. Since then every year, on 11th of July, the United Nations’ World Population Day is observed globally. The day was suggested by Dr. KC Zachariah, who worked as Senior Demographic at World Bank. And it was inspired by the public interest in ‘Five Billion Day’ on July 11, 1987. This was the exact day, when the world’s population reached five billion. The World Population Day is a global observance and not a public holiday. Business groups, community organisations, and individuals and many other celebrate this day.

This year, on the World Population Day, United Nations Population Fund activities will celebrate the theme, “Family Planning is a Human Right.” The reason behind choosing this theme is that, this year in 1968 International Conference on Human Rights steps foot on its 50th anniversary and for the very first time family planning is globally declared to be a human right. The Tehran Proclamation which is also the result of the Conference expressed, “Parents have a basic human right to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children.” Due to this whole concept, there came a serious realisation that, women and girls have the right to avoid too many pregnancies and the weariness from it. Both men and women should have the right to embrace parenthood how and when they want. The Conference also took in Resolution XVII, which is titled, “Human Rights Aspects of Family Planning.” All of this associates the right to “the dignity and worth of the human person.”

A total of 9 standards have been set by the UN in order to validate human right to family planning. These are – 1) Family planning information and services will not be denied according to people’s race, cast, age, sex, religion, language, marital status, sexual orientation or gender identity, nationality, political incorporation, or economic or disability status. 2) Family planning commodities and services should be made available and affordable to an every one by their countries. 3) Contraceptive information and services must be made available in sufficient quantity. 4) A balance, between medical ethics and the culture of those being assisted, must be kept when providing the contraceptive information and services. 5)  Contraceptive information must be scientifically correct and conveyed comprehensively. Contraceptive commodities must be unexpired and expert health staff must provide contraceptive services in clean sanitary environment only. 6) Every person must have the authority to make the reproduction without any kind of burden. Clearly communicated contraceptive counselling must make people realise their choices and the power for rejection of any or all of the options. 7) All the counselling information and services of family planning must be kept confidential and the staff must be trained to maintain it. 8) Participation from all countries is a must in all the aspects of family planning. 9) Women, young and demeaned people must know their rights and options if their rights are violated.

The current population of the world is over 7.6 billion as of July 2018, according to the most recent estimates done by the United Nations. Most of the contribution, for increase in population, is done by the developing, third world countries. According to recent studies and estimates, countries that have the highest population growth in 2017 have all been under-developed countries. And in here, Bangladesh is also not lagging behind. Currently Bangladesh has 166 million people.

But what is the actual reason for such inflation? And who do we blame? Overpopulation means that the birth rate and death rate are not matching up. The birth rates are higher than they should be. The world has developed a great deal over the years. The death rates today are a lot less than before. After the great industrial revolution, development spread its wing to fly. I mean, no matter how much we complain, we have to agree that medical science and facilities, technologies and other services have come a long way in helping us. Another major factor in population growth is immigration. Too many people staying at one land and crowding the place will definitely cause population rise. But the most concerning cause for today, is unplanned birth and pregnancies. The lack of family planning in many countries especially the underdeveloped ones are making a great contribution to population inflation. Most developing countries have poor education system, and people do not have much knowledge of the unfavourable effects of overpopulation. Lack of access to birth control and information given to girls and women is causing serious issues.

Overpopulation is having deadly impacts on the resources. A brutal truth we all know is that too many people and not enough resources is making the world more vulnerable to war, corruption and crime. The advancement of technology has already caused the number of job for humans to become less. And on top of that we keep increasing in number. When the number of people will be more they will require more and more space for shelter, agriculture, and all related things. To sum it up, an increase in population will call an increase in development. But this development is not sustainable.

The world needs to grow. Not by having population overflow but by restoring stability and resources. The UN has taken a big step and we must take it forward. A couple should not have five children only because they think they can feed them. People have to realise that they also have responsibilities towards their planet. These words may seem harsh but the sooner we swallow the better medicine, lesser the damage done.