State of World Population 2012 - Country Page List - UNFPA

Many institutions, providers, and civil society
organizations must, however, still overcome the
persistent, common perception that boys and
men are merely disinterested in family planning.
Men and boys are often trained from an
early age to view fertility matters as women’s
responsibility. And even when men do want to
play more of a role, they are often sidelined by
services. Research into the ways gender norms
influence boys and men has challenged stereotypes
about their attitudes and behaviours,
highlighting opportunities for health promotion
and efforts to achieve gender equality.
Men’s sexual behaviours vary considerably
across regions. For example, men vary in the
timing of their sexual activity. The latest available
demographic and household survey data
from 30 countries suggest that young men continue
to have sex years before they marry (IFC
Macro DHS Statcompiler). The gaps between
age at first intercourse and age at marriage range
from 1.1 years in South and Southeast Asia to
6.8 years in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In sub-Saharan Africa, young men marry
4.8 years after they first have sex.
When adolescents and male youth are not
reached with appropriate information and
services during this interval between first intercourse
and when they enter a formal union,
they—like their partners—are at increased risk
of sexually transmitted infections and unintended
pregnancy. Couples-based family planning
programmes that heavily rely on links to maternal
health are less likely to reach these men.
Partly because of HIV prevention efforts,
young men have become increasingly aware
of contraceptive methods available to them
(Abraham, Adamu and Deresse, 2010). Men
in unions are more likely to know about the
contraceptive methods available to them; in
recent years they have become more aware of
condoms, while vasectomy remains relatively
unknown.
Even though men are increasingly aware of
male methods of contraception, women still
account for 75 per cent of global contraceptive
use (United Nations, 2011). In 2009, the
United Nations reported that only 9 per cent
of married women in developing regions relied
on methods of contraception that required male
participation, such as condoms and male sterilization
(United Nations, 2009).
Men’s fertility preferences have changed over
time. Today, young men generally wish to have
smaller families. As a result, young and adult men
may have an increasing desire for information and
services that help them choose when to have
children (Guttmacher Institute, 2003).
Contraceptive use among young men (ages
15 to 24) worldwide varies significantly, with
t
Man in Kinaaba,
Uganda holds his child
while his wife receives
injection of long-acting
contraceptive.
©UNFPA/Omar
Gharzeddine
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