World Population Day Celebrations, 2023

WORLD POPULATION DAY CELEBRATIONS, 2023

The World celebrate the Population Day every eleventh day of the month of July annually to deliberate on the emerging issues in global population trends, which include opportunities, challenges and lessons learnt from the previous years.

Kenya’s celebrations were held in the capital city of Nairobi on 11/7/2023 and other regions all over the country and was attended by officials from; Government entities, Development partners, Civil Societies, among other key stakeholders.

The 2023 World Population Day celebrations theme for Kenya was; “Unleashing the Power of Gender Equality to unlock Kenya’s Infinite Possibilities.”

The Principal Secretary in the State Department for Economic Planning, Mr. James Muhati attended and addressed the World Population Day celebrations participants in Nairobi where he was invited as the chief guest. Gender Equality as a fundamental human right was the main matter of discussion during the celebrations.

In order to achieve gender equality in the country, government policies must prioritize the sexual reproductive health rights for women and girls through the following ways; Age appropriate widespread sexuality education, comprehensive and integrated family planning services, and ensure provision of the same in all government health facilities. All stakeholders, including the were urged to invest in the sexual reproductive health rights for women and girls as this will accelerate the achievements of the targets for the global SDGs.

The PS outlined that it is crucial to address the challenges of the fast-growing population saying that Kenya is experiencing a rapid population increase with an average current population of 50 million people. According to the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census, the percentage of female population in Kenya was 50.31 per cent compared to 49.69 per cent male population. The population of boys ages 0-18 years was 50.47 per cent compared to girls at 49.53 per cent. These figures require attention from the policy drafters and implementers to come up with solutions that are gender-responsive and interventions tied to population related concerns.

Others who attended and addressed the World Population Day Forum in Nairobi included the Director General of the National Council for Population and Development (NCPD), Dr. Sheikh Mohamed, and Economic Planning Secretary, Katherine Muoki among others.