Qatar Celebrates World Population Day

Doha, July 10 (QNA) - Marking the 50th anniversary of the 1968 International Conference on Human Rights the annual World Population Day 2018 will be celebrated under the theme "Family Planning is a Human Right." The conferences outcome document, known as the Teheran Proclamation, stated unequivocally: "Parents have a basic human right to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children." Annually celebrated on Jul. 11, World Population Day seeks to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues, was established by the then-Governing Council of the United Nations Development Program in 1989, an outgrowth of the interest generated by the Day of Five Billion, which was observed on Jul. 11 1987. The first World Population Day was in 1990 in more than 90 countries and has since been celebrated annually by a number of offices affiliated by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and some entities, in cooperation with governments and civil society organizations. The State of Qatar celebrates this year in line with the first anniversary of launching Qatar Population Policy 2017-2022, which was set by the Permanent Population Committee (PPC) in cooperation with ministries and governmental and non-governmental bodies concerned with population issues. Qatar National Library will be holding an open seminar celebrating the World Population Day with the participation of PPC and Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics. PPC seeks to achieve a balance between population growth an the requirements for sustainable developments, which improves the quality of life for residents of the State of Qatar. This is implemented by setting population policies, following up on its execution and keep up with the rapid developments in the demographic situation in the country. This is achieve through holding studies, theoretical and field research dealing with influential social issues and finding effective solutions which ensures achieving a prosperous life for the residents of Qatar. It also contributes to improving their intellectual and practical capacities and to providing and diversifying appropriate practical options, hence providing participation opportunities for all to join the work system and contributing to achieving the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030. According to the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics, the total population count until end of June 2018 was 2.580.734 which is a statistic updated monthly. Populations differ between countries around the world due to natural and human factors affecting their distribution. The United Nations Population Report 2017 is expected the world population to reach 8.6 billion by 2030, 9.8 billion by 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100, which is an average of 83 million people every year. UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem said we have three strategic results that we will work with our partners to achieve: end unmet need for family planning; end preventable maternal deaths; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices, including child marriage and female genital mutilation. These results comply with the sustainable development goals around the world. With 1.4 billion and 1.3 billion respectively, China and India remain the biggest in terms of population which reveals 19 and 18 percent of the world population. It is however expected that within seven years, India's population will exceed the population of China. From 2017 to 2050, half of the world's population is expected to be concentrated in only nine countries: India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, United States, Uganda and Indonesia. Asia is also expected to become the second largest contributor to future world population growth, adding 0.9 billion people between 2015 and 2050. Unlike Africa, the number of people in 48 countries or regions in the world is projected to decline between 2015 and 2050. Several countries are also expected to see their population drop by more than 15% by 2050, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. This highlights the importance of conducting a census in countries which begins by calculating the population density that is necessary in order to obtain detailed population information, logging them logically and systematically. Hence, the United Nations Statistics Division was established which helps in supporting the national census operation in all countries. The data and collected statistics help in making future decisions and increases planning for economic and social development. The statistics are also used for better distribution of government funds, education and health as well as its importance in running researches and contributes in helping private sectors make decisions to obtain the best number of representatives of the people in the government. The census also helps in the equitable distribution of public funds, where parts of the public funds are allocated to the population only. Census indicators contribute to the assessment of the Millennium Development Goals of countries, which contribute to the knowledge of unemployment rates and illiteracy among the population and provide data and statistics to analyze and evaluate changes occurring around the world. (QNA)