World Hepatitis Day 2023; July 28th.

 FORUM: "One life, one liver." World Hepatitis Day 2023.

Over one million hepatitis-related deaths every single year – and one new chronic infection every ten seconds. And that’s why liver health is fundamental to human health. So many hepatitis deaths could be prevented. Because there are vaccines and effective treatments for hepatitis B and even a cure for hepatitis C - you CAN protect yourself and your loved ones. Speak to your local healthcare provider to find out how to protect yourself from hepatitis.

EVENTS:  Global Hepatitis Webinar – One life, one liver

Scaling-up the testing and treatment of viral hepatitis towards the 2030 elimination goals.

On World Hepatitis Day (WHD) 2023, WHO will host a global webinar in collaboration with partners worldwide, to raise awareness on the viral hepatitis epidemic. The theme for WHD 2023 is “One life, one liver” and it is positioned to illuminate the importance of the liver to the hepatitis elimination agenda.

One of the key features of the event will be highlights from the second and updated 2023 version of the country elimination validation guidance which incorporates the lessons and feedback from the implementation pilot conducted in all WHO regions, as well as experiences from other countries. This revised guidance establishes for the first time a global criterion for Path to Elimination (PTE) for hepatitis B and C for Members States that have made significant progress towards viral elimination but have challenges achieving 2030 targets due to a high baseline burden or absolute targets of incidence or mortality.

The PTE describes a step-wise progression through the prevention, diagnosis and treatment coverage from bronze to silver to gold tiers and will promote an iterative expansion of programmes and strengthening of measurement systems towards demonstrating 2030 elimination impact targets. Several countries are eligible for these tiers and are already actively engaging to commence the official process of validation.

The webinar will feature WHO leaders and high-profile speakers in a multi-stakeholder discussion to share country examples and solutions that highlight the importance of the liver for a healthy life and the need to scale up viral hepatitis prevention, testing and treatment to optimize liver health, prevent liver disease and achieve the 2030 hepatitis elimination. It will highlight the importance of a public health elimination approach and upcoming complementary guidelines update that has the potential to change the trajectory of the hepatitis B response.

The World Hepatitis Day 2023 will be held online on July 28th from 13:00 – 15:00 CET. Hosted by the World Hepatitis Alliance, the World Heath Organization (WHO), the WHO/PAHO; the WHO Europe, the WHO SEARO, the WHO EMRO, the WHO WPRO and the WHO African Regional offices with the participation of the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC). Register to participate and  Get the flyer!

Global Hepatitis Webinar – One life, one liver.

 STATEMENTS: Statement from Dr. Tedros on World Hepatitis Day 2023; July 28th.

KEY MESSAGES

World Hepatitis Day 2023 Key Messages

1. We’ve only got one life, and we’ve only got one liver. Hepatitis can devastate both.

A liver silently performs over 500 vital functions every single day to keep us alive. That’s why prioritizing liver health – and knowing our hepatitis status – is so important. 

• As well as knowing our hepatitis status and seeking treatment, reducing alcohol, achieving a healthy weight, treating hypertension and managing diabetes are key to a healthy liver.
• The benefits of a healthy liver include:

1. Living longer.
2. Protecting your loved ones against hepatitis.
3. Protecting other vital organs, including the heart, brain and kidneys, that rely on the liver to function.

2. Viral hepatitis still kills over a million people every year.

• Combined, hepatitis B and hepatitis C cause 1.1 million deaths and 3 million new infections every year.
• 350 million people are living with a chronic viral hepatitis infection.
• 3,000 people die from hepatitis every day. That’s one hepatitis death every thirty seconds.
• Over 8,000 new hepatitis B and C infections occur each day. That’s over 5 infections every minute.
• If the current trajectory continues, viral hepatitis will kill more people annually than malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS combined by 2040.

3. Globally, there’s a huge number of undiagnosed and untreated people living with hepatitis. This must change.

Hepatitis infection is silent and liver health awareness is low. Most symptoms only appear once the disease is advanced, resulting in a huge volume of undiagnosed people living with hepatitis. Even when hepatitis is diagnosed, the number of people who go on to receive treatment is incredibly low.

• Most people discover they have hepatitis B or C after many years of silent infection, and only when they develop serious liver disease or cancer.
• Even after diagnosis, the level of treatment and care for people living with hepatitis is astonishingly poor.
• Only 10% of people with chronic hepatitis B are diagnosed. Only 22% of those receive treatment – that’s just 2% of the total global health burden.
• Only 21% of people with hepatitis C are diagnosed. 62% of those diagnosed receive treatment to cure them – just 13% of the total global health burden.

4. So many hepatitis infections – and deaths – can be prevented.


Offering easy-to-navigate services at local health facilities is key to successfully ending hepatitis.

• To eliminate hepatitis and achieve the WHO’s ambitious targets by 2030, simplified primary care services for viral hepatitis should ensure that:All pregnant women living with chronic hepatitis B have access to treatment and their infants have access to hepatitis B birth vaccines to prevent infection.
• 90% of people living with hepatitis B and/or hepatitis C are diagnosed.
• 80% of diagnosed people are cured or treated according to newer expanded eligibility criteria.
• Hepatitis C can be prevented by adequately screening all donated blood, ensuring safe injection practices in health care settings, at home and especially among people who inject drugs.
• After years of climbing treatment numbers, current data shows that the number of people accessing the hepatitis C cure is slowing.
• A 12-week course of medication to cure hepatitis C now costs 60 USD, down from the original costs of more than 90,000 USD when first introduced.
• Hepatitis B can be prevented through vaccination and effectively managed via treatment. Treatment for hepatitis B now costs less than 30 USD per year (2.4 USD per month).
• These price drops should boost treatment rates.

5. With COVID-19 no longer a global health emergency, now’s the time to eliminate viral hepatitis and meet our 2030 targets.


COVID-19 slowed progress of the global hepatitis response in recent years. However, continued success in reducing hepatitis B infections in children proves that progress is possible. Now’s the time to prioritize testing and treatment to realize a hepatitis-free world and meet our 2030 targets.

• The reduction of hepatitis B infections in children by effective vaccination practice is one of the few Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) health targets that’s on track. It’s also the only hepatitis target on track.
• However, there are still too few countries in Africa that have access to hepatitis B ‘timely birth dose vaccine’, which are given in the first 24 hours after birth. Efforts to scale this up stalled due to COVID-19.
• Giving more hepatitis B vaccines at birth is urgently needed to meet the SDG target of preventing mother-to-child transmission.

CAMPAIGN MATERIALS: World Hepatitis Day '' Its time to act.''

You’ve only got one life, and you’ve only got one liver. Hepatitis can devastate both.

Your liver silently performs over 500 vital functions every single day to keep you alive.

But viral hepatitis infection is also silent, with symptoms only appearing once the disease is advanced. Although there are many different types of hepatitis viruses (A to E), hepatitis B and C are the most concerning and cause nearly 8000 new infections every day, which are mostly going undetected. 

  Get the communication materials!

International Chess Day 2023; July 20th.

 FORUM: ‘‘FIDE's 99th anniversary.” International Chess Day 2023. Throughout its history, FIDE has been instrumental in shaping the world of chess, and we never stop aiming for new heights, serving the game and chess community. Today we celebrate the power of chess to promote fairness, inclusion and mutual respect. Chess has found its place in the ever-changing world of modern technology. You could teach a kid how to play, as it would be easier and more rewarding for you both! But it can also be a grown-up since learning chess has beneficial effects at any age. To align with the Year of the Woman in Chess, we particularly encourage you to teach a girl how to play chess. Please share this call to action with your regional federations and chess clubs, and encourage them to share their experience on social media using the hashtags: #WorldChessDay, #Chess, #20july, so their actions can inspire others.

EVENTS: To mark the International Chess Day 2023 and the FIDE's 99th anniversary, FIDE organizes online and hybrid events and implements new technological solutions. In 2023 chess became part of the Olympic Esports Series. Next year, FIDE will celebrate its 100-year birthday. The International Chess Federation has come a long way since its first steps a century ago. For July 20th, we’ve planned a few special activities to make the day a little bit more special—and you can join in on the fun! Read on to find out what we’ve got planned. The Chess Olympiad is one of FIDE's flagship events. The Olympiad is a team competition where countries are represented by their four best players. The Olympiad reached record participation, with 186 nations represented in the open competition, plus 160 more in the Women's Olympiad. International Chess Day Activities for 2023 are the 24-Hour Marathon Arena; The Community Streamer Program; The 2023 Bullet Chess Championship (BCC) , The Chessable Festable Festival. Explore all events on the ChessTV activities Schedule.

Statements: Message from Mr. Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE President on International Chess Day 2023.

The FIDE Chess in Education Commission is delighted to share the exciting news about the upcoming 9th Preparation of Teachers course.


We invite you to join us for this exceptional learning experience. Ideal for teachers, chess educators, and beginner and advanced players who have a basic knowledge of chess and experience working with children, the course will be run online in English from August 18-20, 2023. The participants will have an opportunity to take an exam to qualify for the esteemed FIDE title of School Instructor. Moreover, FIDE Chess in Education Commission offer participants who successfully complete the course a special benefit - exclusive lifetime access to the Opening Master Premium Chess Database, which currently contains more than 9.6 million official over-the-board chess games and is being updated on a monthly basis. For a comprehensive overview of the course, To secure your spot, kindly complete and submit the registration form provided here.

Please note that the deadline for applications is August 14. Given the limited number of places available (20 in total), we encourage you to register at your earliest convenience, as applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Nelson Mandela International Day 2023; July 18th.

FORUM: "IT IS IN YOUR HANDS." Nelson Mandela International Day 2023. On July 18th, the International Community commemorates Nelson Mandela. This year’s theme is: It Is In Your Hands. Follow the conversations with the hashtags; #MandelaDay, #Itisinyourhands, #18july.

Statement by the United Nations Secretary-General on Nelson Mandela International Day 2023; July 18th.


Nelson Mandela was a colossus of courage and conviction.

A leader of immense achievement and extraordinary humanity.

A giant of our times, whose legacy we best honour through action:

Action to expel the poison of racism, discrimination and hate;

Action to extinguish the legacies of colonialism;

And action to promote equality, human rights and above all, justice.

Today, poverty, hunger and inequality are on the rise.

Countries are drowning in debt.

The climate crisis is destroying the lives of those who have done the least to cause it.

And our unfair and outdated international financial system is not fulfilling its function as a global safety net.

We have it in our power to solve each of these problems.

So, as we commemorate Nelson Mandela’s life and legacy, let us be animated by his spirit of humanity, dignity and justice.

Let us stand with women and girls, young people and change makers everywhere.

And let us take action to build a better world.

Thank you.

António Guterres

EVENTS: On July 20th; The United Nations General Assembly will mark the Nelson Mandela International Day 2023 with an informal plenary meeting at UN Headquarters — NYC, Conference room 4, from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. EDT;

Speakers:

H.E. Mr. Csaba Kőrösi, President of the General Assembly;
H.E. Mr. António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General;
Andrew Young, Politician, activist, and Former Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations.

Day of International Criminal Justice 2023; July 17th.

FORUM: Marking the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute." International Criminal Justice Day 2023.

17 July is the Day of International Criminal Justice. It marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute on 17 July 1998, the founding treaty of the ICC, which seeks to protect people from genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. 17 July unites all those who wish to support justice, promote victims' rights, and help prevent crimes that threaten the peace, security and well-being of the world.

EVENTS: On 17 July 2023; The ICC will celebrate the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Adoption of the Rome Statute.

Overview of the three commemorative events 

1. Opening of the exhibit “Life After Conflict” in The Hague, Netherlands.

 Date: Wednesday, 12 July 2023 at 17:00, followed by a reception.

Venue: The Hague City Hall, Atrium C, The Hague, Netherlands 

An International Criminal Court (ICC) exhibition entitled “Life After Conflict” will be on display in The Hague in July/August 2023. The 2023 display will be part of the commemorations for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Rome Statute on 17 July 2023. Through stories told by survivors of atrocity crimes, the exhibit shows the impact of the Rome Statute system and the Court’s work. The photographs, by award-winning photographers Rena Effendi, Pete Muller and Finbarr O’Reilly, cover stories from five countries in which the ICC has conducted investigations, all at different stages of the ICC process. 

2. Commemoration event to take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Date: Monday, 17 July 2023.

 Duration: one day (two segments of three hours each from 10:00 to 13:00 and 15:00 to 18:00) Interpretation into English, French and Spanish (to be confirmed).

The commemorative day at the United Nations will be divided in two sessions of three hours each. The programme will be conveyed in the coming weeks. 

The morning session will encompass an opening ceremony and will be followed by a brief high-level, inperson Ministerial Roundtable on the strategic vision for the next decade of the Court open only to the Ministerial Level Representatives and a representative of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC).  The morning session will end with a treaty ceremony for depositories of instruments of ratification/accession, amendments to the Rome Statute, as well as the signing of voluntary cooperation agreements or the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities with the Court. 

The afternoon session will be devoted to a continuation of the discussion on the strategic vision for the next decade: how to ensure consistent and sustainable support for the ICC through three distinct panels organized around some key themes for the Court and the Rome Statute system. These will include:

 a. Connecting the dots: Strengthening the international criminal law ecosystem: The role of the ICC as part of a global ecosystem of justice, intended to allow for a discussion of the complementarity regime and current cooperative trends with national systems and other accountability efforts; 

b. Ensuring adequate remedy to victims of Rome Statute crimes, dedicated to a reflection on victims participation and reparation within the Rome Statute system; and 

c. Strengthening the Rome Statute system: The Review Mechanism and beyond: The strengthening of the Rome Statute system through the current Review process will be coming to a closure in 2023. This panel is intended to take stock of what has been accomplished and to identify the way forward after its conclusion. The commemorative event will be followed by a reception at the United Nations Headquarters hosted by the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations. 

3. Commemoration event to take place at the Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights.

Date: Thursday, 12 and Friday, 13 October 2023.

Duration: 1.5 days 

Hybrid event, with online interaction from invitees, to be streamed on social platforms aimed at continuing and broadening the discussion initiated in New York on the strategic vision for the next decade: how to ensure consistent and sustainable support for the ICC. A declaration or recommendations resulting from discussions in New York and Siracusa, if any, may be adopted by State Parties at the twenty-second session of the Assembly of States Parties to be held in New York from 4 to 14 December 2023.

Concept note for the commemoration process of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

 

EVENTS
DATE	EVENT	VENUE
27 March	Rome Statute 25th Anniversary Event	Villa Wolkonsky, Rome, Italy
12 July	Commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute Concept note -English | Español | Français  Programme -English	The Hague City Hall, The Hague, Netherlands
17 July	Commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute Concept note - English | Español | Français  Invitation States - English | Español | Français  Programme - English Ministerial Roundtable - States - English |  Español | Français  Letter from the President of the Assembly on Treaty ceremony - English Letter from the Permanent Mission of Liechtenstein to the UN - English Morning segment – additional information - English Biographies - English Information sheet - English APIC, PASP letter on ratifications - English | Español | Français	United Nations Headquarters, New York, USA
6-7 October	25th anniversary of the Rome Statute: Conference on possible future amendments of the Rome Statute Concept note - English	University of Vienna, School of Law, Vienna, Austria
12-13 October	Commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute Concept note - English | Español | Français	Rome, Italy

Source

Assembly of States Parties

CAMPAIGN: Building a more just world.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted on 17 July 1998, 25 years ago. It is the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which seeks to protect people from genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.

- Opening Ceremony
- Strategic vision for the next decade: How to ensure consistent and sustainable support for the ICC
- Treaty Ceremony

World Youth Skills Day 2023, July 15th.

FORUM: "Empowering youth for a sustainable future:Building skills for tomorrow.'' World Youth skills Day 2023.

According to a recent ILO study, young people in the labour force are three times as likely as adults to be unemployed, with the global youth unemployment rate at about 14% in 2022. This translates into 69 million young people who were looking for a job but unable to find one. On World Youth Skills Day 2023, UNESCO-UNEVOC and WorldSkills International are joining forces to showcase the positive impact of youth skills development on societies and economies, and to empower youth to meet the challenges of an evolving global landscape through TVET. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #15July, #WYSD, #WorldYouthSkillsDay.

EVENTS: The 2023 World Youth Skills Day hybrid event will celebrate the role of skilled young people inbuilding a sustainable future for all. 

• The first panel will include a youth focus group and a discussion on how teaching and learning processes can be optimized to prepare young people for a changing labour market. 
• The second panel will reflect on UNESCO’s Global Skills Academy and its work to scale up youth skills development as well as what more can be done to build employability, entrepreneurship, and resilience among young people. By raising awareness, fostering collaboration, and empowering young people, this observance contributes to building a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable future.

 The UNESCO-UNEVOC, WorldSkills International, and partners such as WorldSkills Germany, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH remain committed to supporting youth in realizing their full potential and becoming active agents of change in their communities. 

Format The event will take place in English in a hybrid format, with participants joining in person in Bonn and online via Zoom webinar. Register here:

HOW TO GET INVOLVED!

1. Raise awareness: World Youth Skills Day seeks to raise global awareness about the importance of equipping young individuals with skills that are essential for personal development, employment, and entrepreneurship. 

2. Foster dialogue and collaboration: The observance provides a platform to engage in dialogue, exchange best practices, and foster collaboration. By bringing together diverse stakeholders, the event aims to create synergies and partnerships to address the skills gap. 

3. Promote youth employment and entrepreneurship: World Youth Skills Day endeavours to promote youth employment by emphasizing the critical role of skills in facilitating access to decent work opportunities. Furthermore, it seeks to encourage youth entrepreneurship as a means of unleashing innovation, economic growth, and sustainable development.

 4. Empower marginalized youth: The observance prioritizes empowering marginalized and disadvantaged youth. It seeks to ensure that they have access to quality education and vocational training, bridging the gap between formal and informal sectors, and creating pathways for their active participation in the economy.

INITIATIVES: Three years ago, UNESCO launched the Global Skills Academy (GSA) to provide one-stop access to training that can help young people develop skills for employment. Under the GSA initiative, UNESCO-UNEVOC leverages its partnerships with more than 220 UNEVOC Centres in over 140 countries to match learners with training offered by members of the Global Education Coalition. The selected trainings aim to help 10 million young people build skills for employability and resilience by 2029. WorldSkills is the global hub of skills excellence, working in 85 Member countries and regions to promote the benefits of vocational education and training for young people. Every two years, WorldSkills hosts the WorldSkills Competition and Conference, a global celebration of skills, showcasing how equitable access to skills changes the futures of individuals, communities, and countries. 

PUBLICATIONS: World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2023, ILO.

With regard to policy mechanisms through which policies could become effective, the ILO is proposing a “productivity ecosystems for decent work” framework to address existing barriers to productivity growth. Enterprises and their workers are embedded in an “ecosystem” in which the drivers of productivity growth and decent work are interlinked across several levels. Policies need to target specific industry and occupational needs to help businesses and employees to acquire the necessary competences to enable a successful technological transformation. Businesses not only lack necessary skills among their employees; they also often lack the requisite managerial experience, which can be acquired, for instance, through more intensive interaction with competitors in similar or related sectors. Low managerial turnover thus hampers the adoption of more productive management practices. Moreover, faster productivity growth requires that micro and small enterprises be helped to transition to formality and to achieve and maintain a minimum efficient scale and economic viability. A recent story from Colombia illustrates very well how social dialogue and collective bargaining have greatly improved productivity. Social dialogue is crucial for buttressing efforts to improve productivity. This pillar is central to addressing the large productivity differences among individuals and firms as well as the widening gap between productivity growth and wage growth, which disproportionately hurt workers. There is also evidence that bolstering the quality of industrial relations at the shop floor level helps to prevent inefficient restructuring, thereby improving firm productivity. Works councils, which have to be consulted on restructuring, investment plans or layoffs, have been shown to reduce labour turnover. When combined with industry-level bargaining that prevents rent-seeking, works councils have been shown to raise firm-level productivity and speed up the introduction of new technologies. The overall effects of trade unions and collective bargaining on productivity are ambiguous and subject to debate. Nevertheless, a stronger voice of organized labour at the company level could help to achieve faster and more equitable introduction of new technologies, which in turn could improve the longer-term prospects for productivity and employment, for instance by strengthening incentives for worker training and supporting workforce reorganization. Special attention should also be given to the role played by policies aiming to reduce the incidence of informal employment.

 

Background:  In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day, to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship. Since then, World Youth Skills Day events have provided a unique opportunity for dialogue between young people, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, the private sector, policy-makers and development partners. As the world undergoes rapid technological, economic and societal transformations, young people will need the right skills to successfully navigate these challenges and achieve their full potential. 

International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms 2023; July 12th.

FORUM: ''Combating Sand and Dust Storms.''International Day of Combatting Sand and Dust Storms 2023.

At least 25% of global dust emissions originate from human activities, and in some areas, desert dust has doubled in the 20th century. The impact of this phenomena is difficult to control, as human activity in one part of the world can cause sand and dust storms in another region. However, just as sand and dust storms are caused by human activities, these storms can also be reduced through human actions.

Sand and dust storms are an essential element of the Earth’s natural bio-chemical cycles, but are also caused in part by human-induced drivers, including climate change, and unsustainable land management and water use. In turn, sand and dust storms contribute to climate change and air pollution. Sand and dust storms’ impacts are felt in all regions of the world, both in developed and developing countries, and pose severe challenges to achieving 11 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, especially:

SDG-2 — Goal 2: Zero hunger
SDG-3 — Goal 3: Health
SDG-6 — Goal 6: Water and sanitation
SDG-8 — Goal 8: Economic growth
SDG-11 — Goal 11: Cities
SDG-13 — Goal 13: Climate action, and
SDG-15 — Goal 15: Biodiversity forests and desertification.

 Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #12july, #sandstorms, #duststorms.

EVENTS: On July 12th, at High level Panel Discussion  was held at the UNHQ.

To mark the first observance of the International Day to Combat SDS, several events were organized around the world. The “Commemoration of the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms” event, co-organized by the Permanent Missions of Iraq, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Senegal at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, featured various speakers from organizations collaborating in the UN SDS Coalition. At the same time, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) hosted a series of regional webinars bringing together stakeholders from different regions.

The United Nations General Assembly stressed the need for cooperation at the global and regional levels, with a view to preventing, managing and mitigating the effects of sand and dust storms through the enhancement of early warning systems and the sharing of climate and weather information to forecast sand and dust storms. The General Assembly affirmed that resilient action to combat and reduce sand and dust storms requires a better understanding of the severe multidimensional impacts of sand and dust storms, including the deterioration of the health, well-being and livelihood of people, increased desertification and land degradation, deforestation, loss of biodiversity and land productivity, threatening food security, and their impact on sustainable economic growth.

PUBLICATIONS: The aim of the Sand and Dust Storms Compendium is to provide information and guidance on how to assess and address the risks posed by sand and dust storms and plan actions to combat sand and dust storms. The Compendium brings together this information from a wide range of sources

Sand and Dust Storms Compendium. from Christina Parmionova

World Population Day 2023; July 11th.

FORUM: "Unleashing the power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities." World Population Day 2023. Women and girls make up 49.7% of the global population, yet women and girls are often ignored in discussions on demographics, with their rights violated in population policies. This pervasive injustice keeps women and girls out of school, the workforce and leadership positions; limits their agency and ability to make decisions about their health and sexual and reproductive lives; and heightens their vulnerability to violence, harmful practices and preventable maternal death, with a woman dying every two minutes due to pregnancy or childbirth. We must advance gender equality to create a more just, resilient and sustainable world. The creativity, ingenuity, resources and power of women and girls are fundamental to addressing demographic and other challenges that threaten our future, including climate change and conflict. When women and girls are empowered by societies to exert autonomy over their lives and bodies, they and their families thrive. Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #womenandgirls, #WorldPopulationDay; #11July; #HarnessingOpportunities, #Infinitepossibilities.

EVENTS: On July 11th; to mark the World Population Day 2023, the UNFPA and the Specialized agencies will highlight the need support women and girls around the world, and to advance gender equality to help realize the dreams of all 8 billion of us on our planet. This World Population Day is a reminder that we can achieve the prosperous, peaceful and sustainable future envisioned by the ICPD and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development if we harness the power of every human being on the planet. When we unlock the full potential of women and girls – encouraging and nurturing their desires for their lives, their families and their careers – we galvanize half the leadership, ideas, innovation, and creativity to better society.

PUBLICATIONS: Read the World Population Propects and the 2023 State of World Population report.

STATEMENTS:

Statement from the United Nations Secretary-General on World Population Day 2023; July 11th.

Our human family is larger than ever.

Yet leaders are falling woefully behind in efforts to build a peaceful and prosperous world for all.

Halfway to the 2030 deadline the Sustainable Development Goals are dangerously off track. Gender equality is almost 300 years away. Progress on maternal health and access to family planning has been glacial.

This year’s World Population Day focuses on unleashing the power of gender equality.

Gender-based discrimination harms everyone – women, girls, men, and boys. Investing in women uplifts all people, communities, and countries.

Advancing gender equality, improving maternal health, and empowering women to make their own reproductive choices are both essential in themselves, and central to achieving all the Sustainable Development Goals.

Let us stand with women and girls fighting for their rights. And let us intensify our quest to make the Sustainable Development Goals a reality for all 8 billion of us.

United Nations Secretary-General.

Statement from the UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem on World Population Day 2023; July 11th.

Imagine a world where everyone – all 8 billion of us – has a future bursting with promise and potential. Now open your eyes to the current reality that 4 billion women and girls – half of humanity – face discrimination solely based on their gender.

Thirty years ago, at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), we set out to achieve a world in which people lived longer, healthier lives and enjoyed more rights and choices than ever before. This vision has become a reality for many; in fact, the human population is at its highest number ever, thanks in large part to improvements in health care and increased longevity. Yet, as we celebrate the progress that has been made, we must also recognize that for millions, even billions, of others this promise remains out of reach.

This World Population Day is a reminder that we can achieve the prosperous, peaceful and sustainable future envisioned by the ICPD and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development if we harness the power of every human being on the planet. When we unlock the full potential of women and girls – encouraging and nurturing their desires for their lives, their families and their careers – we galvanize half the leadership, ideas, innovation, and creativity to better society.

Realizing sexual and reproductive health and rights for all is the foundation for gender equality, dignity and opportunity. Nevertheless, over 40 per cent of women around the world cannot exercise their right to make decisions as fundamental as whether or not to have children. Empowering women and girls, including through education and access to modern contraception, helps to support them in their aspirations — and to chart the path of their own lives.

Advancing gender equality is a crosscutting solution to many population concerns. In ageing societies that worry about labour productivity, achieving gender parity in the workforce is the most effective way to improve output and income growth. Meanwhile, in countries experiencing rapid population growth, women’s empowerment through education and family planning can bring enormous benefits by way of human capital and inclusive economic growth.

Thirty years ago, the world united behind a shared vision of the future, one that recognized the rights of women and girls as central to global development. The solution is clear: Accelerating the advancement of gender equality – through access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, improved education, appropriate labour policies, and equitable norms in the workplace and home – will result in healthier families, stronger economies, and resilient societies.

That message of gender equality is as powerful today as it was then; our resolve must be as well. Let us unite once more to imagine a world in which every one of us has the equal opportunity to thrive, and let us join forces to ensure a reality in which every nation’s real wealth – no matter its size or stage of development – is its people, and that means all people, not half.

UNFPA stands with all 8 billion people so that they may claim their rights and make their own choices. Because only that will lead to a future that will bring equality and prosperity to us all.

UNFPA Executive Director.

Did you know Africa and Asia are driving global population growth?

Asia contributed half of the 8 billion and Africa made the 2nd largest contribution with 400 million people. Check out these 6 trends and what they mean now that the world population is #8BillionStrong.