Tue, Nov 1, 2011
Top United Nations officials marked the
global population reaching 7 billion with
a call to action to world leaders to meet
the challenges that a growing population
poses, from ensuring adequate food and clean
water to guaranteeing equal access to security
and justice.
New York, 31 October 2011 - Top United Nations
officials marked the global population reaching
7 billion with a call to action to world
leaders to meet the challenges that a growing
population poses, from ensuring adequate
food and clean water to guaranteeing equal
access to security and justice.
"Today, we welcome
baby 7 billion. In doing so we must recognize
our moral and pragmatic obligation to do
the right thing for him, or for her,"
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at a
press event at UN Headquarters to mark the
milestone.
Video: UNEP Executive
Director Achim Steiner on Green Economy
and population
7 Billion ActionsMr. Ban noted that the
world's population reached 6 billion in
1998, only 13 years ago, and it is expected
to grow to 9 billion by the middle of this
century, or even a few years earlier - by
2043.
"But today - this
Day of 7 Billion - is not about one newborn,
or even one generation," he stated.
"This is a day about our entire human
family."
The world today is one
of "terrible contradictions,"
said Mr. Ban, noting that there is plenty
of food but 1 billion people go hungry;
lavish lifestyles for a few, but poverty
for too many others; huge advances in medicine
while mothers die everyday in childbirth;
and billions spent on weapons to kill people
instead of keeping them safe.
"What kind of world
has baby 7 billion been born into? What
kind of world do we want for our children
in the future?" he asked.
"I am one of 7
billion. You are also one of 7 billion.
Together, we can be 7 billion strong - by
working in solidarity for a better world
for all," the Secretary-General said.
In an op-ed published
in The International Herald Tribune, Mr.
Ban said that as the world population passes
7 billion, "alarm bells are ringing."
He noted that the meeting later this week
in France of the Group of 20 leading and
emerging economies (G-20) is taking place
against the backdrop of growing economic
uncertainty and mounting inequality.
"In Cannes, leaders
should agree to a concrete action plan that
advances the well-being of all nations and
people, not just the wealthiest and most
powerful," he stated.
The President of the
General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser,
said today's milestone is a reminder of
how the world's poorest - the so-called
'bottom billion' - are rendered vulnerable
with little or no access to basic needs.
"Seven billion
people face, almost on a daily basis - with
varying degrees of severity - the consequences
of environmental challenges, increasing
poverty, inequity, wars and economic instability,"
he told the event.
"But with each
of these challenges comes an opportunity
- 7 billion opportunities in fact,"
he added, noting that these opportunities
can be harnessed to reach global anti-poverty
targets, to invest in youth and women, and
to re-think the approach to sustainable
development.
The Executive Director
of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) underscored
some of the challenges in an expanding global
community, including in promoting the rights
and health of 7 billion women, men and children.
"We must ensure
that, in areas of the world where population
is growing fast, we raise the status of
women and young girls to be able to access
education and make choices for themselves,"
Babatunde Osotimehin said at the gathering.
"We also owe it
to the 215 million women worldwide who require
family planning and are not getting it to
make it available," he said, adding
it is also necessary to ensure safe pregnancy
and delivery for every woman that wants
to give birth.
At the same time, he
highlighted the need to give ageing populations
in many parts of the world a life of dignity,
and to tackle the rapid urbanization and
migration which many countries have to face.
The UN human rights
chief also marked the occasion, stating
that the 7 billionth child is, by virtue
of her or his birth, a permanent holder
of rights, with an "irrevocable"
claim to freedom.
"But she or he
will also be born into a world where some
people, given the chance, will trample on
those rights and freedoms in the name of
state security, or economic policy, or group
chauvinism," High Commissioner for
Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement.
"If she was born
a girl, she will have fewer choices. If
born in the developing world, she or he
will have fewer opportunities. If born a
descendant of Africans in a non-African
country, or as an indigenous person, member
of a religious minority, or as a Roma, she
or he is likely to face discrimination and
marginalization, with a childhood rife with
vulnerability, and a future adult life hedged
in by exclusion.
"But he or she
has also been born at a time of great hope,"
Ms. Pillay added, noting that the demonstrations
and mobilizations of civil society seen
in 2011 in a sense "provide a birthday
celebration for the 7 billionth person on
this planet, and also serve as a warning
to those who might be inclined to deprive
this child, like many others, of his or
her birthrights."
