This year's World Population Day on July 11 is an occasion for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to continue its ongoing work and efforts to ensure rights and choices for everyone, especially women and girls. To better understand the meaning of this year's World Population Day as well as the responding activities that the province's population sector is focusing on implementing, Binh Duong Newspaper reporter had an interview with Dr. Ho Hoang Van, Sub-Department Deputy Department of Population and Family Planning of the province on a number of related contents.
Women and girls are subjects that need more attention in life as well as in family activities
- Could you tell us more about the theme and meaning of this year's World Population Day?
- World Population Day is an annual event, aiming at raising worldwide awareness of global population issues. It is an opportunity for mankind to be proud of achievements in the fields of population, health care, gender equality, environmental protection, life improvement, population quality and life expectancy.
With the desire to ensure rights and choices for everyone, especially women and girls, to create a world with limitless potential, UNFPA has chosen this year's World Population Day theme as the harnessing the power of gender equality and elevating the voices of women and girls to unleash the limitless potentials of our world.
The meaning of this year's World Population Day is to emphasize the need to promote gender equality, and to facilitate the realization of the dreams of 8 billion people. The process should start with listening to the voices of women, girls and the disadvantaged by developing laws and policies that can help them exercise their rights and make the right decisions.
Only then will we be able to mobilize the power of half of the planet's population to tackle today's pressing problems in a diverse, prosperous world of 8 billion people full of limitless potentials.
- On the occasion of this year's World Population Day as well as from the topic proposed by UNFPA, what message does the province's population-family planning sector want to convey to the people in the province, doctor?
- According to UNFPA, women and girls now make up 49.7% of the global population, yet their desires for life, family and work are still overlooked when it comes to demographic issues; and their rights are still violated in population policies, creating a world that is excluding, ignoring and limiting the potentials of every individual on our planet. It will prevent all of us, not just women and girls, from enjoying a more prosperous, peaceful and sustainable future.
As the root of the problem is gender inequality, one of the messages that we want to convey to people in the province on this year's World Population Day is investing in gender equality today as an investment in our shared future.
UNFPA has affirmed that empowering women and girls to exercise their rights and make decisions, especially regarding body self-determination will contribute to creating a better world where people can live a life free of violence and can reach their full potentials.
Women's rights are also human rights. Therefore, strengthening gender equality is the necessary measure to ensure the highest possible level of human rights enforcement.
- Responding to this year's World Population Day, what specific activities will the province's population-family planning sector focus on, sir?
- Responding to World Population Day 2023, the provincial Sub-Department of Population and Family Planning has developed a plan to organize communication activities in response to many activities that have been and are being implemented from the province to the localities.
First of all, the provincial Sub-Department of Population and Family Planning cooperates with relevant agencies and mass organizations to strengthen communication on population policy in the new situation to people in the province. In addition, the branch also coordinates with provincial mass media agencies such as Binh Duong Newspaper, Binh Duong Radio and Television Station, and Binh Duong Health Newsletter to carry out reportages, columns, and programs on population and development work in order to strengthen propaganda and dissemination of Resolution No. 21-NQ/TW of the CPV Central Committee on population in the new situation as well as guiding documents, the policies of the CPV, the State, Party committees and local authorities on population and family planning.
Communication is also promoted through various types on the internet platform and social networks (Facebook, Zalo, TikTok, YouTube) under the guidance of the General Department of Population and Family Planning.
In addition to strengthening the above-mentioned communication activities, at the provincial level, we also focus on visual communication activities such as hanging banners and propaganda slogans on main roads in Thu Dau Mot city, run LED lights in front of the provincial Convention and Exhibition Center. At the district level, depending on the actual situation of each locality, activities such as meetings, conferences, seminars, hanging banners, propaganda cars, distributing communication products, etc. consulting services with flyers, slogans, etc. would be in place.
- Thank you!
Interviewed by Hong Thuan – Translated by Vi Bao
