This year World Population Day will hold on the 11th, 12th and 13th of July, with the theme: “Rights and Choices are the Answer: Whether Baby Boom or Bust, the Solution lies in Prioritizing the Reproductive Health and Rights of all People,”
World Population Day (WPD) is an annual international awareness campaign celebrated to beam global attention on the urgency and importance of population issues globally and draw attention to the need to combat the challenges posed by the sustained global population growth and demographic-related issues. The theme of this year’s World Population Day, “Rights and Choices are the answer: Whether baby boom or bust, the solution lies in prioritizing the reproductive health and rights of all people,” addresses the challenges of women and girls in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has compromised health care systems globally and consequently impacted the provision of health care services, particularly in sexual and reproductive health services. While those with access to sexual and reproductive health services historically delay childbearing in times of fiscal uncertainty or crisis, disruptions in the supply of contraceptives combined with lockdowns are predicted to result in a sharp rise in unplanned pregnancies for the most vulnerable. In addition, it has exacerbated gender inequities and gender-based violence, with an increased incidence of violence under lockdowns.
There are also signs that child marriage and female genital mutilation are increasing as programmes to address these harmful practices were disrupted.
Given the situation, there is increasing concern over the changing fertility rate, which seems to be expediting in some places as a result of the pandemic. Historically, alarmism over low fertility rates shifts the responsibility on women, at least implicitly, without considering broader social and economic challenges that make it difficult for people to have the number of children they want. In some cases, it has led to retrogressive measures such as reducing access to and/or restrictions on contraception. In places with rising populations, harmful policy responses to lower fertility rates have included coercive family planning and sterilization.
This year’s World Population Day focuses on raising awareness about the sexual and reproductive health needs and vulnerabilities of women and girls and, to highlight how safeguarding rights and choices are the best solutions to shifting demographics and ensure that sexual and reproductive health right and bodily autonomy stays on the local agenda as we look towards 2030.
In this second year of COVID-19, we are suspended in an in-between state, where parts of the world are emerging from the deep recesses of the pandemic while others are locked in battle with the coronavirus as access to vaccines remains a distant. UNFPA aims to achieve three world-changing results by 2030, the deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. These are: i) Ending unmet need for family planning, ii) ending gender-based violence including harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and child marriage, and iii) ending all preventable maternal deaths. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has not only compounded the challenges of women and girls, but also reverse progress already made towards achievement of the transformative results.
Globally, only 55 per cent of women are fully empowered to make their own decision over accessing health care, using contraception or engaging in sex with their partners. During the pandemic, disruptions in sexual and reproductive health services have worsened in places where these services are considered not essential. There are fears that the pandemic crisis could be exploited and used as an excuse for restricting, or failing to support, women’s and girls’ decision making, agency, freedom of movement or access to health services and, more generally, preventing people from exercising their sexual and reproductive health rights.
UNFPA supports the host governments to ensure a functioning health care system for the provision of health care services including sexual and reproductive health and rights information and services, as well as limiting the spread of COVID 19 pandemic. UNFPA advocates increased national and sub-national investment in family planning services, promotes RH commodity security and supports efforts to expand the choice of methods and improve the quality of services.
A priority is access to information and services for adolescents and other marginalized populations. Hence, UNFPA supports efforts aimed at harnessing demographic dividends in Nigeria.
UNFPA advises against reactionary policy responses, which can be extremely harmful if they violate rights, health and choices. Instead, the agency calls for prioritizing reproductive health and rights for all through access to information and services in the face of fertility and demographic shifts.
Ultimately, the best way to address fertility change is to support the human rights and welfare of all people. UNFPA’s mandate to enable reproductive rights and choices everywhere remains critical to the success of all people, no matter where they live. on this year’s World Population Day, UNFPA Nigeria in collaboration with National Population Commission plans to implement series of high impact activities to commemorate the event and further enlighten policy makers and stakeholders on the need to prioritize the sexual and reproductive health right for all, particularly women and girls.
The theme of the 2021 World Population Day “Rights and Choices are the answer: Whether baby boom or bust, the solution lies in prioritizing the reproductive health and rights of all people,” aims to create awareness on strategies to safeguard the reproductive health and rights of women and girls as well as eliminate practices that undermine the equality of women and girls. The awareness focuses on ensuring sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls as well as bodily autonomy and addressing gender-based violence (GBV), as well as cautions against alarmism.
The Covid-19 pandemic is challenge to the situation of women and girls, especially in humanitarian, fragile and low-income country contexts, where health and social systems are already weak. Programmes to provide SRH care risk sidelined, leading to higher maternal mortality and morbidity. Compounded economic impacts of the pandemic have been felt especially by women and girls, who generally earn less, hold less secure jobs, and face greater risk of losing their livelihoods or descending into poverty. Women have also faced an increased burden of unpaid care work, pushing many out of the workforce entirely. Women are also more vulnerable to economic fragility during this period and this have far-reaching implication on the socio-economic ad sustainable development of the nation.
More so, they are concerns that the possibility of a shift in fertility from planned to unplanned pregnancies, as women with the means to access contraceptives change their reproductive plans while those without face a loss of reproductive agency. Policy makers work to address major data gaps that limit our current understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on fertility. Timely and accurate information about births and deaths is needed for countries to understand their demographic shifts. Additionally, health systems should be supported to deliver sexual and reproductive health services during crises, including by classifying this work as essential. Women must be empowered educationally, economically and politically in order to exercise unencumbered choice over their bodies and fertility.
The objectives of this year WPD are to:
• Raise awareness about the SRH needs of vulnerable women and girls during COVID-19 pandemic.
• Highlight how we can safeguard the gains and ensure access to SRH.
• Also highlight elimination of all forms of harmful practices and gender-based violence that harm women and girls and undermine equality
The main outputs that are expected at the end of the activity are:
• Stakeholders sensitized on the message of the 2021 WPD and need to prioritize the sexual and reproductive health needs and rights of women and girl, as well as ensuring bodily autonomy.
• Context, challenges, strengths, best practices and actions for increase access to FP and safeguarding the Health and Rights of Women and Girls.
• Potential fast track interventions for sustainable investments in FP and programs targeted at eliminating gender-based violence and other harmful practices against women and girls; flagged for possible replication by policy makers and programmers.
• Messages and an activity report with follow up actions.
TARGET AUDIENCE
i) Women and girls including people with disabilities, the marginalized and the displaced are the most vulnerable people more likely to suffer devastating losses from this pandemic – to provide services, but also provide the right information on access to SRH services.
ii) Women leaders, Health-care providers and Social workers.
iii) Leaders (government, community, religious, etc.) to cushion the impact of COVID-19 on people’s lives, their livelihoods and the economy; but also to ensure the safeguard of the health and rights of women and girls.
iv) Government MDAs and regulatory bodies
v) UN agencies and other development partners – advocate and mobilize resources (partnership support for the safeguard of the health and rights of women and girls. vi) Private sector and the Business community – to cushion the impact of COVID-19 on people’s lives, their livelihoods and the economy; but ensure safeguard of the health and rights of women and girls.
vii) Media – (traditional and social media), provide information on safeguard of the health and rights of women and girls
viii) CSOs/NGOs support initiatives to safeguard of the health and rights of women and girls.
KEY MESSAGES
• As the global pandemic affects countries’ fertility and demography, UNFPA cautions against alarmism. Alarmist policy responses can prove extremely harmful if they undermine individual health, rights and choices.
• UNFPA calls for leaders to respond to fertility and demographic shifts by prioritizing the reproductive health and rights of all people, including through their access to sexual and reproductive health information and services.- Health systems should be supported to deliver sexual and reproductive health services during crises, including by classifying this work as essential. –
In addressing fertility, responses should not be narrowed on fertility; demographic changes can offer opportunities and as such it must be addressed holistically.- While countries may see demographic challenges on a national level, they may find approaches on a multilateral level. Countries with population ageing or youth bulges can work together to share innovations and approaches.- Leaders should also work to address major data gaps that limit our current understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on fertility. Timely and accurate information about births and deaths is needed for countries to understand their demographic shifts.
Commemoration of the 2021 World Population Day will be hybrid. However, given the current COVID-19 pandemic, the physical meeting will be restricted to key stakeholders in order ensure adherence to Government COVID-19 protocols and guidelines. The activity will be a combination of presentation and discussions (panelist and plenary) where key stakeholders are expected to contribute actively. UNFPA specific planning meeting and stakeholders’ planning meeting will be employed to develop and implement activities tailored towards the objectives of the event.
KEY ACTIVITIES
The following key activities are planned:
i) Develop and air jingles on the 2021 WPD Messages.
ii) Commemoration of 2021 World Population Day:Hybrid – Physical and Virtual Conferences comprising of the following media platforms: zoom, Radio/TV talk shows /interviews and Social Media platforms.
iii) Media engagement• Radio/TV/Newspaper information sharing, advertisements and columns on key SRH services• Dissemination of the 2021 WPD key messages on social media platforms.
RESOURCES
Population dashboard:
The World Population Dashboard showcases data on family planning and other aspects of sexual and reproductive health.
Social media:
The Media and Communications Committee in liaison with UNFPA Nigeria will develop a social media package consisting of sample tweets and posts, as well as accompanying visual assets to mark World Population Day. These social media package assets, and customize them in some local audiences.