World Population Day, which seeks to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues, was established by the then-Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989, an outgrowth of the interest generated by the Day of Five Billion, which was observed on 11 July 1987.

It is the most important day in the UNFPA calendar, taking on extra significance this year when we mark the 50th anniversary of UNFPA's founding, as well as the 25th anniversary of the Programme of Action that emerged from the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, which has served as the foundation for all that UNFPA does the world over.

More information on World Population Day 2019, including its theme, will be added at the UN WPD web page: https://www.un.org/en/events/populationday/