State of World Population 2012 - Country Page List - UNFPA

Family planning programmes must reflect the
reality that contraceptive use occurs in the
context of sexual relationships. The family
planning field has readily acknowledged the
connections between sexual and reproductive
health, reproductive rights and sexuality.
Research is needed to examine how the desire
for a satisfying sex life plays a part in shaping
women’s and men’s views of family planning,
their preferences for specific methods, and their
ability to negotiate that use. Family planning
programmes could more systematically recognize
and support their desire to maintain healthy,
enjoyable sexual relationships.
Family planning should be made available
with abortion services where they are not
against the law. Family planning should
be readily available to women who have
recently had abortions to enable them to
avoid unplanned pregnancies in the future.
Yet, family planning has often been separated
from abortion services where they are legal.
The world is united in its concern about
unsafe abortion, an important cause of
maternal morbidity and mortality. Family
planning makes a fundamental contribution
to addressing this important public health
problem by reducing unintended pregnancy.
Ensuring access to emergency contraception
is an essential part of fulfilling the right to
family planning. The international community
needs to emphasize the importance of access
to emergency contraception in cases of sexual
violence, as well as in contexts of armed conflict
and humanitarian emergencies.
Governments, international organizations
and civil society should track levels of
satisfaction with the quality of available
contraceptive methods and services, the
impact on health outcomes and the incidence
of adolescent pregnancy and the costs
of unintended pregnancy. International
and non-governmental organizations and
governments should consider adopting more
refined indicators of unmet need, such as the
“proportion of demand satisfied,” which shows
the share of total demand for contraceptives that
is being fulfilled. Taken together, contraceptive
use and unmet need only define the total level
of demand for family planning. Measuring
“demand satisfied” serves as a proxy for whether
a person’s stated desires regarding contraception
are being fulfilled and is a more sensitive
measure of the extent to which individuals,
communities, and health systems support
people’s right to use family planning.
2 Secure a central place for
family planning in the post-
2015 sustainable development
framework, one that recognizes its
contributions to development and
to breaking the cycle of poverty
and inequality.
Treat family planning not as a “specialty”
topic within the health sector, but as one of
several key investments that contribute to
development. Family planning is a proven,
sound economic investment that yields
returns to the individual, the household, the
community and the nation. The breadth and
scale of the benefits to upholding the right to
family planning suggest that family planning
may be among the most effective—and costeffective—interventions
for human capital
accumulation and poverty alleviation. When
governments ratify human rights treaties they
assume certain obligations to protect a wide
100 CHAPTER 6: MAKING THE RIGHT TO FAMILY PLANNING UNIVERSAL