Today, 11th of July 2011, is World Population Day. For that occasion, and as the world population is expected to surpass 7 billion this year, the UNFPA is launching a new campaign: 7 billion people – 7 billion actions.

They highlight 7 key issues to explore:

1. Poverty and inequality: reducing poverty and inequality also slows population growth.
2. Women and girls: unleashing the power of women and girls will accelerate progress on all fronts.
3. Young people: energetic and open to new technologies, history’s largest and most interconnected population of young people is transforming global politics and culture.
4. Reproductive health and rights: ensuring that every child is wanted and every childbirth safe leads to smaller and stronger families.
5. Environment: all 7 billion of us, and those who will follow, depend on the health of our planet.
6. Ageing: lower fertility and longer lives add up to a new challenge worldwide: providing for aging populations.
7. Urbanization: the next two billion people will live in cities, so we need to plan for them now.

These issues are not new. They are not even original: most bodies or meetings looking at issues for the future have approximately the same issues. But at least it’s another initiative to raise awareness, to think about them. And, most importantly, to act to tackle them.

I don’t think it’s wishful thinking to write that everyone can help. Besides being in the introduction brochure, teaching a child to read, planting a tree, visiting a senior, finding a cure, standing up for others and making someone smile are all simple actions we can do (even if we can’t do all of them, we can do some of them). We can start with our own kids, our own family, our own environment.

What will be your unique story?

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