Population and Global Challenges

Studies on  population are important because governments struggle to put in lot of efforts in ensuring justifiable access of resources such as water, food, shelter, livelihood, health, education etc to  the citizens. They should also plan for issues like environmental impact, gender equality, law and order, human rights etc all vital for a healthy sustenance. Once the population becomes unwieldy, inadequate resources, wealth inequalities, exploitation of the needy by the greedy may be the logical consequences resulting in unruliness and unrest. Thus effective perceptions of population growth and its socio economic implications all assume a great significance, more so in the present day context ! Today being the World Population Day, some interesting aspects relevant to the context:

* The theme this year is based on safeguarding the health and rights of women and girls around the world especially during the time of COVID-19 pandemic.

*Population of the world was estimated to be 780 crore as of March 2020

* It took over 200,000 years of human history for the world's population to reach 1 billion, and only 200 years more to reach 7 billion.

* The world population increased from 1 billion in 1800 to  more than7.8 billion today.

*the life expectancy of people in very poor countries is 20 years shorter than that of people in rich and developed countries

*about 1/3 of population growth is said to be due to unplanned pregnancies - emphasising the need for awareness, education and access to family planning services

*global population growth peaked with an annual growth rate of 2.2% around 1962 but it is halved since then.

**It is our collective responsibility to protect and pass on a safer and a habitable planet we inherited, preferably bettered but not battered, to the future generations ! 

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