IMPROVING REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

UNFPA in 2001 provided assistance to 141 developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

Women attending a reproductive health workshop in Matsana, a village near Matagalpa, Nicaragua. A third of all births in villages in the area are to girls under 19, some of them as young as 12. Photo: UNFPA/Alvaro Serrano

As the world's largest international source of population assistance, we work among all cultures at various stages of development, with a special commitment to the poorest and most vulnerable populations and the least developed nations.

Our mandate to achieve universal access to reproductive health by 2015 is carried out at the global, national and local levels with many valued partners.

Family planning

Better reproductive health depends on being able to exercise the right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of children.

Family planning has been one of the great success stories of development, yet even today more than 350 million women do not have access to a choice of safe and effective contraceptive methods.

At least 120 million women want to use family planning methods but lack access to information and services or the support of their husbands and communities. UNFPA supports voluntary family planning programmes that bring about healthier and smaller families, empower women to make choices and encourage men to take a responsible role as caring partners.