Doha: Qatar will join other countries to mark the World Population Day today. World Population Day is observed on July 11 every year to highlight the problems of overpopulation and raises awareness of the effects of overpopulation on the environment and development.
Qatar Permanent Population Committee said in a statement that International Population Day reminds all segments of society about population issues and promoting community awareness of population-related issues such as gender equality, combating poverty, improving maternal health and human rights.
The statement highlighted that in the second year that World Population Day is marked amid the outbreak of COVID-19, which led to significant economic, social and health crisis in various countries across the world, especially the poorest countries, which do not have the health infrastructure or sufficient resources to confront the pandemic.
It noted that despite the global repercussions of the virus, the State of Qatar is one of the few countries in the world that has managed to deal with this epidemic ably, thanks to the strong health system that provides the best preventive and curative health services to the country’s population.
Qatar Permanent Population Committee has pointed out that the population policy of the State of Qatar 2017-2022 stressed the need to improve the public health services to the population according to its geographical distribution.
The population policy seeks to achieve a balance between population growth and the requirements of sustainable development, in order to ensure a decent life for the residents of the State of Qatar, enhance their capabilities, and enhance opportunities for participation in advancing the development and progress of Qatari society.
Qatar Permanent Population Committee plays the role entrusted with it in following up the national efforts aimed at achieving the goals and objectives of the population policy document and the specific measures it includes aimed at controlling the rate of population growth, and limiting the imbalance of the population structure of the state and its repercussions, in cooperation with governmental and non-governmental agencies and institutions.
It is noteworthy that the occasion of World Population Day is one of the outputs of the United Nations Development Program, which was announced for the first time in 1989, and the United Nations General Assembly decided in December 1990 to continue celebrating that occasion in a manner that enhances awareness of population issues and their relationship to environment and development.