State of World Population 2012 - Country Page List - UNFPA

When individuals are able to exercise the right to family
planning, they are able to make decisions about the timing
and spacing of their pregnancies and are also able to
exercise—and benefit from—many other rights
The governments that endorsed the ICPD
Programme of Action committed to ensuring
that individuals have the information, education
and means to freely and responsibly decide
whether and when to have children and agreed
that family planning is a right.
The right to family planning is also explicitly
stated in the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of
Discrimination
Against Women.
And, family
planning is included
in Millennium
Development Goal
5, especially target
5-B, which aims for
universal access to
reproductive health
by 2015. But progress
within our grasp.
towards achieving
this goal lags behind
progress towards the other Millennium
Development Goals.
So what happens after 2015, after the
deadline for achieving the Millennium
Development Goals has passed
The values and principles affirmed in the
Millennium Declaration provide a solid
foundation for addressing global development
challenges. The post-2015 sustainable
development agenda will likely be based on
the fundamental principles of human rights,
equality and sustainability. In the context of
these principles, development goals would be
Planning one’s family is
a fundamental human
right, and something that
women and men of all
ages everywhere in the
world yearn to achieve. In
2012, realizing this right
for all seems increasingly
pursued along four interdependent dimensions:
inclusive social development, environmental
sustainability, inclusive economic development
and peace and security.
The vision for the post-2015 development
agenda is holistic and global and rests on core
principles, values and standards that derive from
internationally agreed-upon frameworks. These
principles will contribute to policy coherence at
the global, regional, national and sub-national
levels, and ensure that development activities
are mutually reinforcing.
Family planning is one such activity. When
individuals are able to exercise the right to
family planning, they are
able to make decisions about
the timing and spacing of
their pregnancies and are
also able to exercise—and
benefit from—many other
rights, such as rights to
education, health and
development.
The ability to determine
if and when to have children
and how many to have reflects
the realization of equal rights
and opportunities. Family
planning is therefore a matter of equity and
social justice.
Four broad recommendations for
recognizing family planning as a matter of
core rights and sustainable development—
and specific strategies for achieving these
recommendations—are outlined here. They
point to the need to 1) take or reinforce a
rights-based approach; 2) secure an emphasis on
family planning in the post-2015 sustainable
development framework; 3) ensure equality by
focusing on specific excluded groups; 4) raise the
funds to invest fully in family planning.
98 CHAPTER 6: MAKING THE RIGHT TO FAMILY PLANNING UNIVERSAL