A rally, big greetings for the special guest coming to the ceremony, and one or two dialogues- is World Population Day reduced to these superficial customs of different organisations and government offices? Recognised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Population Day is officially observed on July 11 to spread awareness of the vitality of a controlled population, which would ensure better sustainability of natural and artificial resources. However, the question arises: are we actually aware of the massive growth of the global population?
Though birth and death are the planet's natural cycles, the ratio is not quite balanced. Excessive population growth remains one of the cursed barriers towards a civilised nation.
Ironically, there are some parts of the Earth which lack people, whereas in other parts the numbers keep incessantly escalating.
Various national and international organisations serve as catalysts for monitoring population control.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an organisation under the United Nations (UN), is widely regarded as the global body responsible for addressing demographic shifts, reproductive health, and family planning.
Apart from this, the World Bank and USAID are the two major international financial and development institutions that directly link economic aid, health infrastructure, and subsidies for female education to population stabilisation.
International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is a massive global NGO network advocating for sexual/reproductive healthcare rights across over 100 countries. These organisations more or less reveal reports and take surface-level initiatives to have a positive impact. However, the roles they play are insufficient, as evidenced by their own statistical analysis.
In Bangladesh, the Family Planning Organisation is a crucial sector for many rural and town-based women, who advocate having a maximum of two children and work as unpaid psychologists for rural women, but much in vain.
Under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Directorate General of Family Planning (DGFP) manages grass-roots door-to-door distribution, counselling, and clinical contraception services across the country, even in those places where the light of knowledge is yet to reach.
Another leading national non-profit organisation is the SMC (Social Marketing Company), which utilises commercial networks to distribute highly affordable contraceptives and infant healthcare products.
We often see images of a so-called happy and 'balanced' family on the packets of SMC oral saline, which convey the message that fertility should be restricted to two offspring. Whether any person pays heed towards this little important detail.
Now come the official and unofficial reports published by these organisations, much to their own failure and the unsupportive nature of people inside and across the border. The UNFPA State of World Population Report highlights the global demographic shifts, noting that "While the global population has passed 8.2 billion, the main crisis is transitioning from a uniform growth issue into a crisis of reproductive agency.
Again, the UN World Population Prospects suggest that the global fertility rate has levelled out near the replacement threshold of "2.2 births per woman."
We may assume, after learning about these reports, that these organisations do nothing to preserve their decorum of an 'effective' organisation. Still, paradoxically, they do take some steps.
In the case of logistics supply, UNFPA and USAID procure and distribute billions of male condoms, oral pills for females, and long-acting reversible contraceptives (IUDs, implants) to developing nations to prevent unintended pregnancies.
Moreover, utilising the theme of World Population Day, various small and large organisations organise awareness and training programmes to highlight the importance of education among the youth, so that the growing population does not become a burden on the nation.
From our country's perspective, government bodies like SMC and DGFP deploy local community workers directly into remote or conservative rural villages to break down social taboos surrounding family planning, thereby shifting choices regarding parenthood entirely to the personal discretion of potential parents. But are the birth-control logistics and awareness speeches enough to influence the rural masses?
The main reason why most of the incentives fail to secure an influential place in people's minds is that these organisations consider the population as a static mathematical number to control, rather than addressing individual human realities-such as economic stability, reproductive health access, etc.
Despite decades of TV advertisements with slogans like "Not more than two children, but one is better," the problem is not being halted due to deep systemic issues.
For instance, a campaign can make a woman 'aware' of family planning. Still, if the local clinic faces structural stockouts of contraceptives, or if she lacks financial agency to travel there, the awareness is useless.
Moreover, in a socio-economic structure where children are viewed as potential bread-earners, middle- and lower-class families tend to have more children to secure free labour, or wait for them to get established so they can contribute financially to the unstable family. The deeply entrenched cultural and religious stigma referring to the use of birth control as 'sin' or shamefulness drives the way towards uncontrolled population.
Speaking of population, do we know there are two scenarios for this problem? One is overpopulation; the other is underpopulation. The great demographic imbalance suggests that Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, including countries like India, China, Pakistan, and Nigeria, are the most densely populated regions, with high fertility rates.
Though China has, to some extent, converted its population into a skilled workforce, the other three countries mentioned have a long way to go before shedding the label of 'third-world country.' In the Saharan and South Asian regions, there exists severe youth unemployment, rapid urbanisation, and massive immigration pressures.
On the contrary, the countries of East Asia and Southern Europe have chronically low fertility rates, well below the replacement level of 2.1. For example, South Korea's fertility rate is below 1.0, as is Japan's and Italy's. The governments of these countries are actively panicking over "population collapse" and attempting aggressive economic incentives to force young couples to have children.
Significant factors are driving this problem. High living and housing costs, demanding work cultures, and shifting priorities among youth mean generations are opting out of parenthood.
This ultimately results in massive ageing populations, shrinking labour forces, and severe crises in pension/social security systems.
This is another reason why these countries welcome immigrants more readily than other nations blessed with balanced population growth.
Are these problems actually solvable? Yes- but only if they are approached from the root level. If the low-income or destitute families get a suitable earning source, then their urge to birth children and make money out of them will be decreased.
In general, technical workforces would somehow turn the problem into a blessing. For countries facing a decline in fertility rates, governments should make healthcare flexible for citizens, so they do not have to panic about paying for the mother's and child's treatment.
And for overpopulated countries like ours, it is imperative to address the socio-economic catastrophe that drives population growth.
Parents should also think of their physical and mental health before planning a baby.
The excessive population problem can not be solved in a day. Still, with small but powerful incentives, we can surely balance growth rates to better ensure the survival of all the nation's citizens.
amantuliffatfarisha@gmail.com
