UN Conference Addresses Lack of Access to Family Planning in Developing Countries

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Audio: Excerpts and Reporter Questions from the June 30, 2009 Audio Press Conference Transcript of Excerpts and Reporter Questions from the June 30, 2009 Audio Press Conference

NEW YORK, June 30– Family planning experts from around the world warn that the lack of funding for family planning is stalling development efforts in poor countries, especially those facing large population growth.

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, convened 30 leading family planning policy experts June 30-July 2 to review innovative programs that have succeeded in increasing access to contraceptives and other reproductive health services among poor and hard-to-reach people. It also considered the reasons why funding for such programs has stagnated since 1995, even as population pressures have continued to increase.

Worldwide, an estimated 200 million women would like to delay or prevent a pregnancy but are not using effective contraception. In the poorest countries, fewer than one in ten women are using such methods. Meanwhile, demand for contraceptives is expected to grow by 40 percent in the next 15 years.

The meeting, “Reducing Inequities: Ensuring Universal Access to Family Planning,” will issue a Call to Action, directed towards governments and funders and outlining the steps needed to achieve universal access to family planning.

UNFPA officials note that the populations of many African countries are expected to more than double within the next few decades, bringing greater poverty and inequity and declining health and environmental conditions, if current trends continue.

As part of the conference, there was an audio press conference on Tuesday, June 30. Three experts discussed the status of family planning in the developing world and its impact on population dynamics and inequality. They also presented results from innovative and successful programmes to increase access to family planning, explained how poverty and social status impact access, and shared the latest information on funding needed for global access to family planning.

Click here to read a UNFPA dispatch, "The Unfinished Agenda of Family Planning," from the conference.

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