World Population Day: Commemorative ceremony held in Nay Pyi Taw

A commemorative ceremony to mark the 2024 World Population Day was held at MICC-2 in Nay Pyi Taw on Thursday.

Vice Chairman of the State Administration Council, Deputy Prime Minister Vice Senior General Soe Win in his capacity as a patron of the Central Census Commission attended ceremony, and made a speech. He said according to a statement released by the United Nations, the world's population has reached over 8 billion, and stressed that the time frame to add 1 billion population is gradually shorten these days due to changes in birth and mortality rates caused by various factors including the advanced medical assistance, modern technology and enhanced living standards.

As the population rate of a nation impacts its politics, economy, and social sectors, people around the world frequently encounter the crises for food and drinking water, natural disasters and epidemic outbreaks, leading to poverty and widen the gap in living standards.

Therefore, the United Nations adopted Sustainable Development Goals to find solutions to tackle the global challenges including poverty, climate change, environmental degradation and to restore peace and justice by the year 2030. In order to develop a nation, the current situation must be reviewed in a timely manner to set the level of priority for respective sectors to be implemented effectively.

In this context, the accurate population and socio-economic data are crucial for the development process. Conducting nationwide census enumeration is the only project to receive the required socio-economic information to establish and implement national development policies and strategies.

Therefore, the upcoming nationwide population and housing census must be carried out as a national duty. The Vice Senior General called for the concerted efforts of the public and the relevant personnel for the successfully implementation of 2024 nationwide population and housing census in accordance with the theme “A nation-wide census, let us all participate”.

Then, the Union Minister for Immigration and Population U Myint Kyaing clarified the role of population in Myanmar’s development effort. This was followed by screening of a 2024 World Population Day themed video clip “Helping vulnerable populations in emergencies”.

After the ceremony, patron of the Central Census Commission Deputy Prime Minister Vice Senior General Soe Win and party made a tour to commemorative exhibitions. The World Population Day is emerged in order to raise public awareness on population issues such as family planning method, gender equality, poverty, maternal health and human rights.

The campaign for World Population Day was initiated on 11th July 1987, the day that the world's population reached five billion and the United Nations member countries celebrate it annually. As a member of the United Nations, Myanmar has been celebrating the World Population Day since 1990 and this’s the 35th of the celebration. The theme of the 2024 World Population Day is “Helping vulnerable populations in emergencies”