State of World Population 2012 - Country Page List - UNFPA

this latter group would have one year to comply
with the new mandate. During this year, they
would be required to disclose the limitations to
their coverage and direct employees to affordable
contraceptive services elsewhere.
“In order to effectively claim their rights, rights-holders
must be able to access information, organize and participate,
advocate for policy change and obtain redress.”
— Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the
World Health Organization
Accessibility
Even when services exist, social norms and
practices can limit individual access to them.
The subordination of the rights of young
people to those of their parents, for example,
can limit access to information and services
and the capacity to act. The ICPD Programme
of Action recognized the need for parents to
prioritize the best interest of their childern
(based on the Convention on the Rights of the
Child). Since then, other negotiations, notably
the 2009 and 2012 Commission on Population
and Development meetings, have emphasized
the rights of the child and the “duties and
responsibilities” of parents, including their sole
responsibility for deciding on the number and
spacing of their children.
Acceptability
Information and services may exist, and they may
be readily available to individuals in a community.
But if they are not acceptable for cultural,
religious or other reasons, they will not be used.
Research in one community in Mexico, for
example, found that married Catholic women
in their main childbearing years relied primarily
on withdrawal and periodic abstinence, as the
women interviewed for this study said that modern
contraceptives, such as the pill or intrauterine
devices, were against their religious beliefs and
were therefore unacceptable to them (Hirsch,
2008; Hirsch and Nathanson, 2001).
UNFPA, rights and family planning
UNFPA works for the realization of reproductive rights, including the right to
the highest attainable standard of sexual and reproductive health, through
the application of the principles of a human rights-based approach, gender
equality and cultural sensitivity to the sexual and reproductive health framework.
In light of these principles, individuals are treated as active participants
in the policy process with the ability to hold governments accountable in
their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.
As the lead United Nations agency working to improve sexual and
reproductive health, UNFPA promotes legal, institutional and policy
changes, and raises human rights awareness, empowering people to
exercise control over their sexual and reproductive lives and to become
active participants in development. UNFPA promotes the development of
national policy frameworks and accountability systems to ensure universal
access to quality sexual and reproductive health information, goods and
services without discrimination or coercion on any grounds. At the same
time, UNFPA emphasizes the need to build cultural legitimacy for human
rights principles so that communities can make them their own.
Quality
To be in line with fundamental rights, family
planning services must meet certain quality
standards. Considerable agreement has evolved
over the definition of “quality of care” since
it was first defined in 1990 (Bruce, 1990). Its
focus on service quality from the perspective of
individuals has highlighted a number of specific
elements: choice among contraceptive methods;
accurate information on method effectiveness,
risks and benefits; technical competence
of providers; provider–user relationships based
on respect for informed choice, privacy and
confidentiality; follow-up; and the appropriate
constellation of services. Providing good quality
services meets human rights standards and also
attracts more clients, increases family planning
12 CHAPTER 1: THE RIGHT TO FAMILY PLANNING