IIMSAM Official Observed World Population Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) July 10, 2010 -- Observing the World Population Day Dr. Naseer Homoud, Goodwill Ambassador and Director of Middle East office for the Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina against Malnutrition (IIMSAM), the Permanent Observer to the United Nations Economic and Social Council while addressing the media said “the world population day seeks focus and attention on the urgency and importance of population issues and particularly in the context of overall development programs and plans to find solutions for related issues”.

In 1968, world leaders proclaimed that individuals have a basic human right to determine freely and responsibly the number and timing of their children. World Population Day reaffirmed the right of people to plan their families. It encourages activities, events and information that will help make this right real — especially for those who often have the hardest time getting the information and services they need to plan their families, such as marginalized populations and young people. World Population Day is an annual event and it is observed on July 11 every year, which seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. In 1989, the event was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme. In 2010 the spotlight falls on the importance of accurate data for development. This year theme of the day is ‘Everyone Counts’ which is about encouraging people to participate in their official census and the other methods of collecting data on populations.

IIMSAM joins hundreds of organizations and governments around the world in observing World Population Day this July 11, a day set aside by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to build awareness of population issues. IIMSAM notes with appreciation that World Population Day this year focuses on counting everyone-a linkage and the aspect we firmly believe as integral to understanding and addressing population issues, urged Dr. Homoud. “Life is not separated into tidy little categories, with reproductive health, environment, and development as isolated issues to be dealt with separately; instead, these issues are fundamentally linked to, and dependent on, each other. Efforts to improve an individual's health, environment, or socioeconomic status will not fully succeed unless they are part of a comprehensive strategy that recognizes and addresses their interconnectedness”, he further added.

Dr. Homoud noted that this year is remarkable in context with theme of celebration. More than 60 countries are collecting data and other relevant information from their people in order to reach to census programme. “It is indeed important to have up to date facts and stats in context to the population of countries so to access the development of mankind and to study the related aspects therefrom. To achieve Millennium Development Goals, it is an important phase to get people counted in an appropriate manner and I take this opportunity to call upon governments to ensure the successful and transparent completion of their respective census programmes so the world community together can work out on development plans for human being after seeing the recent contemporary trends prevailing therein”, added Dr. Homoud.

We must ensure that women and children are given priority in understanding their needs. Women are often the primary caretakers of their environment, as well as their families. If the world is to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and implement the programme of action adopted at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994, the most effective interventions will involve young people themselves. It is they who can best identify their needs, and who must help and design the programmes that address them, urged Dr. Homoud in his appeal. “The prevailing situation is not a treatise on the glory of women, but a hard reality of the vicious cycle of repercussions befalling the world due to one single cause - gender inequality. On careful thought and analysis, realization dawns that the reason behind the alarming maternal deaths, unplanned pregnancies, lack of education, poverty and hunger boils down to women disempowerment. So, the crux of the issue on world population day lies in improving the status of women. Women are at the heart of communities. They are at the heart of a community’s culture, its economy, and its future. And in their role as mothers they shape their communities more than anyone else, said Dr. Homoud.

He noted that developing countries are suffering from falling levels of investment; reduced remittance flows; and in some cases, cuts in development aid. And this at a time when rapid population growth is already placing a massive strain on governments ability to deliver basic services to their people – such as education, health, water and sanitation - the services needed for them to achieve and sustain the progress envisaged by the Millennium Development Goals.

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