State of World Population 2012 - Country Page List - UNFPA

information and services, including comprehensive
and objective sexuality education.
Marginalizing the rights of a number of populations
undermines national development goals.
These population groups are often the most
vulnerable to neglect and discrimination, and in
many countries, are those with greatest unmet
need. Those whose sexual activity may challenge
prevailing social norms and whose access to reliable,
quality family planning may be impeded
include 1) young people, 2) unmarried people
of all ages, 3) males and 4) other marginalized
or discriminated against groups.
Without integrating family planning policies
that promote social inclusion and applying a
rights-based framework, institutions responsible
for equitable delivery of information and services
may systematically neglect the needs of entire
segments of their population.
1 Young people
Despite the international commitments to
remove barriers to family planning for all population
groups, research finds that young people’s
needs remain largely neglected. The consequence
is that the largest generation of young people in
history is unable to fully exercise their reproductive
rights and prevent unintended pregnancies,
mitigate the risks of school dropout, or protect
themselves from sexually transmitted infections,
including HIV. This reality and its harmful consequences
are largely preventable.
People younger than 25 years now account
for 44 per cent of the world’s total population,
and in developing countries, the numbers of
children and youth are at all-time highs—
1.6 billion and 1 billion, respectively. Girls
aged 10 to 19 alone account for nearly
one-fifth of all women of reproductive age
(Guttmacher Institute and International
Planned Parenthood Federation, 2010;
Guttmacher Institute and International
Planned Parenthood Federation, 2010a).
As these young people mature into
adulthood, their political, economic, and
sociocultural realities will shape the opportunities
and risks they face in planning their
childbearing. In many societies, these factors
continue to reinforce attitudes and practices
that restrict or deter young people from accessing
education and services, resources that
would empower them with information to
choose when they want to become parents.
Unmet need is highest among the 300 million
adolescent women between the ages of 15 and
19. The risks of childbearing for both mother
and infant are highest for adolescent mothers,
and intensive efforts are needed to ensure that
adolescent rights to sexual and reproductive
health information and services, including for
protection against sexually transmitted infections
and HIV, are respected (UNICEF et al., 2011a).
Each day, 2,500 youth, the majority of them
female, become newly infected with HIV. Young
women, whether married or unmarried, often
need the dual protection of a condom plus a
modern contraceptive to protect them from both
pregnancy and disease.
In sub-Saharan Africa and South Central and
Southeast Asia, more than 60 per cent of adolescents
who wish to avoid a pregnancy have an
unmet need for modern contraception. These
adolescents who do not use modern contraception
or rely on a traditional method account for
more than 80 per cent of unintended pregnancies
in this age group.
A comparative analysis of Demographic and
Health Survey data from 40 countries by the
Guttmacher Institute found that the proportion
of adolescent women who reported discontinuing
their method while still in need of contraception
ranged from 4 per cent in Morocco to 28
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