The next two billion people will live in cities. In a recent blog-post by The International Telecommunications Union — also a partner of the 7 Billion Actions initiative — they talk about the growing number of people that are moving from rural areas to urban ones and discus how that will affect resources, global energy, and green house gas emission.
On the International Day of Peace- also known as September 21st- the President of the General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar, addressed the subject of mediation and peace in a world of 7 billion people. Mr. Al- Nasser said that as the world population nears 7 Billion, issues such as global prosperity and sustainable development will become extremely important topics to the Assembly. Mr. Nasser further discussed the significance of peace and mediation; highlighting the fact that the Assembly had issued the first ever resolution on mediation in an effort to spread peace among and between nations, and the close to 7 billion people that live around the world.
Read the full story here.
On September 14th 2011 United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Population Fund Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin, youth leaders, advocates, men and women all gathered at the United Nations headquarters in New York City for the launch of a global initiative known as : the 7 Billion actions initiative. The approximately 90-minute gathering addressed the challenges, opportunities, spirit, and hope of a world with 7 Billion.
At a press briefing at the Japan Press Club, Ms. Kiyoko Ikegami of UNFPA Tokyo discussed implications of a world of 7 Billion and how environmental issues, such as deforestation, and a declining birth rate might affect Japan in the future.
7 Billion Actions is collecting stories of organizations and individuals making a difference in a world at 7 billion. See all stories here and add your own!
What’s your action?
I am raising money for Charity Water because I can help improve the desperate need for public access to clean water.
Why do you act?
Five years ago, I was in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the city of Goma, and witnessed the water crisis as citizens – mostly women and children – gathered their source water from Lake Kivu. The lake sits on an active volcano and as a result has high levels of natural methane, which in some places is so strong it causes asphyxiation. The lake also holds the bodies of countless victims of the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda. Despite this, it’s what people were using for drinking, for preparing food, for bathing and I can’t accept that when there’s an opportunity to make a difference.
7 Billion Actions is collecting stories of organizations and individuals making a difference in a world at 7 billion. See all stories here and add your own!
What’s your Action?
I work to put young women and girls at the center of development. I invest in their leadership and teach them to celebrate their sexual and reproductive health and rights. The feminization of this epidemic is something that I think the HIV/AIDS global movement needs to pay better attention to and I feel it is my mission to give voice to that.
On September 23rth investigative journalist and host of Our America on
the Oprah Winfrey Network, Lisa Ling teamed up with one of our 7 Billion
Actions partners, the Campaign to End Fistula, to support the work of
Healing Hands of Joy, a non-profit working in Ethiopia to empower former
fistula patients and prevent fistula. Read the article.
Mark Leon Goldberg of UN Dispatch reviews trends about the world at 7 Billion and discusses how increasing access to family planning services impacts such trends.
UNFPA and Programa Voz Joven (PVJ) launched the 7MCel campaign, asking young Nicaraguans to produce short mobile videos (60-90 seconds in length) about what a world at 7 Billion means to them.
On International Youth Day, the first island wide youth-led debate competition on sexual and reproductive health. Read more here.
7 Billion Actions is collecting stories of organizations and individuals making a difference in a world at 7 billion. See all stories here and add your own!
What’s Your Action?
The Global Women’s Water Initiative provides training for grassroots women and groups to implement water related-strategies through appropriate technologies, action planning, seed funding and leadership development so they can improve their communities health, self reliance, and resilience to climate change. Our mission is to increase grassroots women’s knowledge and capacity to implement sustainable Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) solutions and provide opportunities for their voices to be heard at the local, national and international level.
In 2011 the world’s population will exceed 7 billion people. To mark this milestone, Global Voices has been commissioned by the 7 Billion Actions initiative to write a series of posts that celebrate how one person or group can make a difference in a world of 7 billion people. These stories by Global Voices authors in different countries will be translated by Lingua into French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic. Some blogs will be translated into even more languages.
