State of World Population 2012 - UNFPA Haiti

this latter group would have one year to complywith the new mandate. During this year, theywould be required to disclose the limitations totheir coverage and direct employees to affordablecontraceptive services elsewhere.“In order to effectively claim their rights, rights-holdersmust be able to access information, organize and participate,advocate for policy change and obtain redress.”— Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and theWorld Health OrganizationAccessibilityEven when services exist, social norms andpractices can limit individual access to them.The subordination of the rights of youngpeople to those of their parents, for example,can limit access to information and servicesand the capacity to act. The ICPD Programmeof Action recognized the need for parents toprioritize the best interest of their childern(based on the Convention on the Rights of theChild). Since then, other negotiations, notablythe 2009 and 2012 Commission on Populationand Development meetings, have emphasizedthe rights of the child and the “duties andresponsibilities” of parents, including their soleresponsibility for deciding on the number andspacing of their children.AcceptabilityInformation and services may exist, and they maybe 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, forexample, found that married Catholic womenin their main childbearing years relied primarilyon withdrawal and periodic abstinence, as thewomen interviewed for this study said that moderncontraceptives, such as the pill or intrauterinedevices, were against their religious beliefs andwere therefore unacceptable to them (Hirsch,2008; Hirsch and Nathanson, 2001).UNFPA, rights and family planningUNFPA works for the realization of reproductive rights, including the right tothe highest attainable standard of sexual and reproductive health, throughthe application of the principles of a human rights-based approach, genderequality and cultural sensitivity to the sexual and reproductive health framework.In light of these principles, individuals are treated as active participantsin the policy process with the ability to hold governments accountable intheir obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.As the lead United Nations agency working to improve sexual andreproductive health, UNFPA promotes legal, institutional and policychanges, and raises human rights awareness, empowering people toexercise control over their sexual and reproductive lives and to becomeactive participants in development. UNFPA promotes the development ofnational policy frameworks and accountability systems to ensure universalaccess to quality sexual and reproductive health information, goods andservices without discrimination or coercion on any grounds. At the sametime, UNFPA emphasizes the need to build cultural legitimacy for humanrights principles so that communities can make them their own.QualityTo be in line with fundamental rights, familyplanning services must meet certain qualitystandards. Considerable agreement has evolvedover the definition of “quality of care” sinceit was first defined in 1990 (Bruce, 1990). Itsfocus on service quality from the perspective ofindividuals has highlighted a number of specificelements: choice among contraceptive methods;accurate information on method effectiveness,risks and benefits; technical competenceof providers; provider–user relationships basedon respect for informed choice, privacy andconfidentiality; follow-up; and the appropriateconstellation of services. Providing good qualityservices meets human rights standards and alsoattracts more clients, increases family planning12 CHAPTER 1: THE RIGHT TO FAMILY PLANNING