To increase people’s awareness on various population issues such is the importance of family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health, and elderly care, World Population Day is observed by the international community on July 11.

The event is an opportunity to focus on ways and means to affirm the importance of the human right to plan for a family and responsible parenthood, and to encourage activities and information to help make this right a reality throughout the world.

The world’s current population is estimated at 6.8 billion. At the beginning of 2005, the United Nations Population Division released revisions to its World Population Prospects publication with a scenario placing the world’s population at a little more than nine billion in 2050.

A month ago, however, the 2010 Revision of World Population Prospects projected world population to reach seven billion in October, 2011. Most of the population growth would occur in the developing world.

The rapid increase in the world’s population has several causes, notably the revolution in medical care and technology over the past century, with advances in medicine and public health contributing to the growing life expectancy and elderly longevity.

The annual rate of population growth has been much higher than the forecast rates in the last 40 years. The projections underscore the urgent need to provide safe and effective family planning and investing in resources to enable men and women to have means to exercise their human right to determine the number and spacing of their children.

Increased population growth generally represents problems for a country. It means increased need for food, infrastructure, and services. Reducing the inequalities and finding ways to ensure the well being of people today as well as the generations that follow will require new ways of thinking and extraordinary global cooperation.

A world of seven billion people is both a challenge and an opportunity. Experience shows that the involvement and participation of nations on the issue of the world population can make all the difference in promoting the dignity and improving the quality of life for all people.