Population First launches the UNFPA-Laadli National Creative Excellence Awards for Social Change, with an aim of creating a pool of promotional material that could be used for the campaign against sex selection. By keeping this contest open to the masses, we intend to create a people’s movement against the practice of sex selection, by providing communication support to ongoing campaigns on the issue.

The campaign called Laadli was essentially launched with an objective of correcting the sex ratio through the involvement of all stakeholders supporting the cause and creating social consciousness to the issue collectively. A need for quality promotional and communication material on the issue of sex selection lead to the announcement of the contest.

It is a little known fact that in Asia, at least 60 million girls are 'missing' due to prenatal sex selection or neglect. In India, as per the Census 2001, there is an alarming decline in the 0 to 6 sex ratio. Across the country, a large number of districts were witness to the phenomena of dwindling number of girls in the population. The number of districts with a sex ratio of less than 800 girls per 1000 boys was 14 as compared to 0 districts in 1991. The number of districts with a sex ratio in the range 800 to 849 increased from 1 district to 32 districts in the same decade. Pre-natal sex selection is wiping out large numbers of females from the population, even before they have had an opportunity to be born. Delhi, the political capital of India and Mumbai the commercial capital of the country, have 0 to 6 sex ratios much below the national ratio of 927, which in itself is low. Delhi has a sex ratio of 865 and Mumbai 898. Mumbai had recorded a fall of 32 points in the last decade from 930 girls per 1000 boys in 1991 to 898 girls per 1000 boys in 2001. An alarming situation, it calls for immediate action on the issue. Therefore, we aim to involve the masses in supporting our fight against sex selection, helping create social consciousness to the issue, and in the long run, contribute to correcting the sex ratio.