At the root of all that we do is the desire to create pathways to freedom for women and girls. World Population Day, established in 1989, speaks to this issue. Freedom means every woman in the world should be able to decide, free from any coercion, when to have children and how many children to have.
World Population Day was created to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues, including universal access to family planning and reproductive health services, and the impact our growing population has on our future and the future of our planet. World Population Day 2017 is celebrated today, on July 11, with the theme Family Planning: Empowering People, Developing Nations.
When you empower a woman, you empower her community. We believe this is one more step in the direction for the universal empowerment of women and girls.
No matter your background or status, the access to safe and intentional family planning is a human right. It is also an important component in reducing poverty. It promotes gender equality and increases female empowerment. However, there are currently around 225 million women in developing countries who want to avoid pregnancy and do not have access to safe and effective family planning methods. On today, World Population Day, we want to share our hope that awareness, planning, and action will lead to a life of choice, opportunity, and freedom for women and girls.
Photo Credit: Paula Watts Photography
At Sudara, our mission and purpose is to empower and provide services to women in India who are at high risk or are survivors of human trafficking. This is a human issue and a world population issue.
To read more on World Population Day, the background behind it, and additional resources, please visit the United Nations official page.