Day of 7 Billion

Jackstick · **Posted:** October 31st, 2011, 5:52 pm

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As world passes 7 billion milestone, UN urges action to meet key challenges

31 October 2011 – Top United Nations officials today marked the global population reaching 7 billion with a call to action to world leaders to meet the challenges that a growing population poses, from ensuring adequate food and clean water to guaranteeing equal access to security and justice.

“Today, we welcome baby 7 billion. In doing so we must recognize our moral and pragmatic obligation to do the right thing for him, or for her,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at a press event at UN Headquarters to mark the milestone.

Mr. Ban noted that the world’s population reached 6 billion in 1998, only 13 years ago, and it is expected to grow to 9 billion by the middle of this century, or even a few years earlier – by 2043.

“But today – this Day of 7 Billion – is not about one newborn, or even one generation,” he stated. “This is a day about our entire human family.”

The world today is one of “terrible contradictions,” said Mr. Ban, noting that there is plenty of food but 1 billion people go hungry; lavish lifestyles for a few, but poverty for too many others; huge advances in medicine while mothers die everyday in childbirth; and billions spent on weapons to kill people instead of keeping them safe.

“What kind of world has baby 7 billion been born into? What kind of world do we want for our children in the future?” he asked.

“I am one of 7 billion. You are also one of 7 billion. Together, we can be 7 billion strong – by working in solidarity for a better world for all,” the Secretary-General said.

In an op-ed published in The International Herald Tribune, Mr. Ban said that as the world population passes 7 billion, “alarm bells are ringing.” He noted that the meeting later this week in France of the Group of 20 leading and emerging economies (G-20) is taking place against the backdrop of growing economic uncertainty and mounting inequality.

“In Cannes, leaders should agree to a concrete action plan that advances the well-being of all nations and people, not just the wealthiest and most powerful,” he stated.

The President of the General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, said today’s milestone is a reminder of how the world’s poorest – the so-called ‘bottom billion’ – are rendered vulnerable with little or no access to basic needs.

“Seven billion people face, almost on a daily basis – with varying degrees of severity – the consequences of environmental challenges, increasing poverty, inequity, wars and economic instability,” he told the event.

“But with each of these challenges comes an opportunity – 7 billion opportunities in fact,” he added, noting that these opportunities can be harnessed to reach global anti-poverty targets, to invest in youth and women, and to re-think the approach to sustainable development.

The Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) underscored some of the challenges in an expanding global community, including in promoting the rights and health of 7 billion women, men and children.

“We must ensure that, in areas of the world where population is growing fast, we raise the status of women and young girls to be able to access education and make choices for themselves,” Babatunde Osotimehin said at the gathering.

“We also owe it to the 215 million women worldwide who require family planning and are not getting it to make it available,” he said, adding it is also necessary to ensure safe pregnancy and delivery for every woman that wants to give birth.

At the same time, he highlighted the need to give ageing populations in many parts of the world a life of dignity, and to tackle the rapid urbanization and migration which many countries have to face.

The UN human rights chief also marked the occasion, stating that the 7 billionth child is, by virtue of her or his birth, a permanent holder of rights, with an “irrevocable” claim to freedom.

“But she or he will also be born into a world where some people, given the chance, will trample on those rights and freedoms in the name of state security, or economic policy, or group chauvinism,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement.

“If she was born a girl, she will have fewer choices. If born in the developing world, she or he will have fewer opportunities. If born a descendant of Africans in a non-African country, or as an indigenous person, member of a religious minority, or as a Roma, she or he is likely to face discrimination and marginalization, with a childhood rife with vulnerability, and a future adult life hedged in by exclusion.

“But he or she has also been born at a time of great hope,” Ms. Pillay added, noting that the demonstrations and mobilizations of civil society seen in 2011 in a sense “provide a birthday celebration for the 7 billionth person on this planet, and also serve as a warning to those who might be inclined to deprive this child, like many others, of his or her birthrights.”

Dakota Lesmercy · **Posted:** October 31st, 2011, 6:17 pm

Scary thought is scary! D: D: D:

EDIT: First! :3

EDIT EDIT: Cool Story Bro...

Dakota.

Spirographed · **Posted:** October 31st, 2011, 7:38 pm

How tragic.

Rayseima · **Posted:** October 31st, 2011, 7:55 pm

7 billion IS a lot of people, when you think about it. The population rate is exponentially large, I would expect no less than 14 billion by then end of the century.
I read a book recently, The Human Zoo, that goes into great detail on this. How centuries ago the population rate was just a one person every square kilometer. Now it's like 10 people per square kilometer (doesn't seem like much, but it is). And how the more densely packed society becomes, the more humans start adapting differently then in the years past and how they act out of what they were gentically designed to do. Eventually we're gonna run out of room or something.
First Mars space colony: April 17, 2072.
I CALLED IT.

Omegaman · **Posted:** November 1st, 2011, 1:39 am

Zombie apocolypse sounding pretty good right about now.

tipsyGnostalgic · **Posted:** November 1st, 2011, 1:52 am

I wonder how they decided the 7 billionth human while many kicked the bucket at the same time.

To be honest, the number is extremely absurd. Even 6 billion was too much.

killa kiaba · **Posted:** November 1st, 2011, 2:04 am

China Vrs India war = minus 2 billion

Jeroen · **Posted:** November 1st, 2011, 3:27 am

Rayseima wrote:

7 billion IS a lot of people, when you think about it. The population rate is exponentially large, I would expect no less than 14 billion by then end of the century.
I read a book recently, The Human Zoo, that goes into great detail on this. How centuries ago the population rate was just a one person every square kilometer. Now it's like 10 people per square kilometer (doesn't seem like much, but it is). And how the more densely packed society becomes, the more humans start adapting differently then in the years past and how they act out of what they were gentically designed to do. Eventually we're gonna run out of room or something.
First Mars space colony: April 17, 2072.
I CALLED IT.

Although the growth has increased exponentially it is starting to level out, the growth rate is already starting to fall (slowly)

It's expected to level out around 10 billion somewhere at the end of this century, although it's hard to tell whether that is too much or not

Ericteg · **Posted:** November 1st, 2011, 7:33 am

*waiting for HIV to become airborne*

Eadwulf · **Posted:** November 1st, 2011, 3:03 pm

These gloom and doom discussion always bore the hell out of me. It's not like the days of yesteryear were so much better.

Burks · **Posted:** November 1st, 2011, 5:16 pm

killa kiaba wrote:

China Vrs India war = minus 2 billion

Minus all computer parts, tech support (lol), and everything else in the world.

Americans may actually have to manufacture stuff other than porn and crudely built vehicles. We couldn't handle it.

killa kiaba · **Posted:** November 2nd, 2011, 4:42 am

Burks wrote:

killa kiaba wrote:

China Vrs India war = minus 2 billion

Minus all computer parts, tech support (lol), and everything else in the world.

Americans may actually have to manufacture stuff other than porn and crudely built vehicles. We couldn't handle it.

Burks i am sure Africa would fill in that gap if we did lose China/India.

J@nr0k · **Posted:** November 2nd, 2011, 9:43 am

killa kiaba wrote:

Burks wrote:

killa kiaba wrote:

China Vrs India war = minus 2 billion

Minus all computer parts, tech support (lol), and everything else in the world.

Americans may actually have to manufacture stuff other than porn and crudely built vehicles. We couldn't handle it.

Burks i am sure Africa would fill in that gap if we did lose China/India.

Herpa derp

Pupsin · **Posted:** November 2nd, 2011, 4:30 pm

killa kiaba wrote:

Burks wrote:

killa kiaba wrote:

China Vrs India war = minus 2 billion

Minus all computer parts, tech support (lol), and everything else in the world.

Americans may actually have to manufacture stuff other than porn and crudely built vehicles. We couldn't handle it.

Burks i am sure Africa would fill in that gap if we did lose China/India.

Except that Africa isn't nearly as industrialized as China and India. Some countries are industrialized, but for the most part they aren't.

Phantomrose · **Posted:** November 2nd, 2011, 4:51 pm

Seven billion people sounds like too many people in the world. Overpopulation?

killa kiaba · **Posted:** November 2nd, 2011, 8:08 pm

Pupsin wrote:

Except that Africa isn't nearly as industrialized as China and India. Some countries are industrialized, but for the most part they aren't.

yep but i am sure that Africa would fill in the gap since the corrupt people running the parts of the country would see a opportunity for even more power and money. that or you would have Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma and Korea filling in.

Magicana Drofulcus · **Posted:** November 2nd, 2011, 8:25 pm

Except China and India have nuclear weapons, and te doctrine of mutually assured destruction holds that world population would go down by 7 billion.

Animal · **Posted:** November 2nd, 2011, 8:38 pm

This makes an educated guess based on your birthdate as to what number human you are.

Burks · **Posted:** November 2nd, 2011, 9:55 pm

killa kiaba wrote:

Burks i am sure Africa would fill in that gap if we did lose China/India.

They are too busy on their knees begging for food instead of trying to do something about it. Oh! Forgot the wars too. Famine? Got that too.

I'd rather see Central/South America get more jobs than Africa. Could you imagine the work a coke addict could get done in a single day? They'd do 10x the work of a family of Chinese but only have to be paid in coke.....which is CHEAP!

Landerpurex · **Posted:** November 3rd, 2011, 11:23 pm

Animal wrote:

This makes an educated guess based on your birthdate as to what number human you are.

Cool site.

And hey Burks...I don't think everyone in Central America are coke heads. But hey, what do I know. I'm not a nurse.

Couldn't care less about all this. As it's been not-so-gracefully stated, most of the growth isn't happening in developed countries.

Day of 7 Billion

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