On #WorldPopulationDay (11 July), I’m reflecting on the power of people—especially young people—to shape India’s future. 🌍📈

Back in 1987, when global population crossed 5 billion, the UN Development Programme launched this annual observance to spotlight sexual & reproductive health, fertility trends and women’s rights. Today, through the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and its State of World Population report, the day reminds us that demographic numbers are about dignity and opportunity, not statistics alone.

India’s once‑in‑a‑generation window

371 million Indians are between 15 – 29—a cohort larger than the population of the USA.

If educated, skilled and healthy, this group can add US $1 trillion to GDP by 2030 (NITI Aayog/World Bank).

Yet child marriage (23.3 %) and teenage pregnancies (7 %) threaten to blunt that edge, constraining the autonomy of millions of girls.

Rights at the centre

This year’s theme—“Empower young people to create the families they want, in a free, fair and hopeful world”—is a call to protect reproductive choice. Coercive norms that push early marriage or dictate family size erode women’s agency and, by extension, national prosperity.

Proof that progress pays

Project Udaan (Rajasthan): Every extra year of secondary schooling for a girl sharply lowers child‑marriage risk.

Advika (Odisha): Life‑skills and vocational training, backed by UNICEF & UNFPA, are raising girls’ incomes and self‑confidence.

Project Manzil (Rajasthan): Boosting female labour‑force participation is translating economic power into reproductive autonomy.

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and the National Adolescent Health Programme show how policy + community can cut harmful practices in half within a decade.

What leaders can do next

Invest early in girls’ secondary and tertiary education; returns compound across health, labour and fertility indicators.

Mainstream SRH services—from comprehensive sexuality education to affordable contraception—through public‑private partnerships.

Champion youth voices in policy design; they understand their aspirations better than anyone.

Measure what matters: disaggregate data by gender, geography and age to spot—and close—equity gaps swiftly.

India’s demographic dividend is not a given; it’s a choice. Let’s choose to honour the rights and ambitions of our young people—especially girls—so they can build the families and futures they envision. The payoff will extend far beyond 2030, powering inclusive growth for generations.

#WorldPopulationDay #DemographicDividend #YouthEmpowerment #ReproductiveRights #WomenInLeadership #FamilyPlanning #UNFPA #GenderEquality #IndiaGrowth #SDGs