11 July 2012 – Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan and UN Population Fund together celebrate the World Population Day 2012.The day, which is held under the motto “Healthy Families – Healthy Societies”, is celebrated with open-air event at Gofur Gulom Park in Tashkent.

World Population Day is celebrated annually on 11 July. This important observation is an outgrowth of the Day of 5 Billion, which was observed on 11 July back in 1987. It was later recommended that 11 July be observed as World Population Day. World Population Day seeks to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues, particularly in the context of overall development plans and programmes, and the need for collective actions.

The theme of this year’s World Population Day is “Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services”. The theme was chosen to re-energize commitments towards universal access to reproductive health and recognize those who provide information, services and supplies. The theme is also one of the targets of Millennium Development Goals (MDG 5) and universal principles of the ICPD (International Conference on Population and Development).

In Uzbekistan, UNFPA, Women’s Committee and khokimiyats (municipalities) of Tashkent city and Chilonzor district join hands to celebrate the World Population Day with open-air event at one of Tashkent’s beautiful parks, Gofur Gulom. The celebration focuses around family marathon, as well as kids’ chalk drawing contest on a theme of “Healthy Families”. Winners and participants of the contest were awarded with souvenirs. Participants of the event and guests also enjoyed performance of amateur folk dance and song groups.

The celebration aims to once again draw public attention to the importance of advancing population’s reproductive and maternal health, and particularly the role of young people. Organization of marathon and creative contest is symbolic in showing the efforts that the Government of Uzbekistan is undertaking, particularly in advancing women’s participation in sports, and creating opportunities for young people to develop their skills.

UNFPA and Women’s Committee have been working together for more than a decade on various issues related to advancement of women’s role, educating communities on issues of reproductive health, and promoting adolescents’ healthy lifestyle. Organization of marathons among women and youth has become a long-standing tradition of the two organizations.