In the Programme of Action, reproductive health is defined as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and its functions and processes.  Reproductive health therefore implies that people are able to have satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when, and how often to do so."



Reproductive rights are based on human rights that are already recognized in national laws and international human rights documents.  The concept of reproductive rights per se is relatively new, and is not only ethically based but practically fruitful.  If women are to reach their full potential as productive members of their communities, they must be able to manage their other roles, including motherhood.  This means, among other things, that they must have access to reliable information and quality reproductive health care, including family planning services.

The Programme of Action also states: "Reproductive health eludes many of the world's people because of such factors as inadequate... knowledge about human sexuality and inappropriate or poor-quality reproductive health information and services; the prevalence of high-risk sexual behaviour; discriminatory social practices; negative attitudes towards women and girls; and the limited power many women and girls have over their sexual and reproductive lives."

there are now approximately 2.3 billion people in the world under nineteen years of age.   This mean that over the course of the next twenty years, roughly 1.1 to 1.2 billion girls will entering the prime reproductive years of their lives.

In both rich and poor societies, the failure to help young people deal with their sexuality has led to a high incidence of pregnancies, abortions, and STDs, as well as higher maternal and infant mortality.  The Programme of Action therefore declares that "countries, with the support of the international community, should promote and protect the rights of adolescents to education, reproductive health, information and care and greatly reduce the numbers of adolescent pregnancies."

Progress to Date.
there has been great progress in family planning since the 1960s.  ten times as many couples (from 46 to 460 million) in developing countries use some method of family planning; this is a fivefold increase in terms of the percentage of the population then and now.  Family planning programmes have contributed to the decline in developing countries' fertility rates from six to seven children per family in the 1950s to three to four children today.

reproductive health and rights are not limited to family planning, however.  The Programme of Action takes as an objective to ensure that women and men have the information, education,and services needed to achieve good sexual health and exercise their reproductive rights and responsibilities.

Unmet Need.
Notwithstanding the progress that has been made, roughly 350 million couples still lack of access to a full range of modern family planning information and services.  The ICPD estimated that 120 million women who are not now using a modern family planning method would do so if one were available, affordable, and acceptable to them and their husbands.   This unmet need for family planning services will have to be satisfied to prevent the global population from ballooning to 12.5 billion by 2050.



Government programmes should aim to help people make sure that all their pregnancies are planned and all children are wanted.  Although governments have a legitimate interest in population trends, the document states, contraceptive quotas and other forms of coercion have no place in family planning programmes.  Couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children.

Basic reproductive health care must be universally available to all individuals of appropriate ages as soon as possible, and no later than the year 2015.  In addition, "full attention should be given to the promotion of mutually respectful and equitable gender relations, and particularly to meeting the educational and services needs of adolescents to enable them to deal in  positive and responsible way with their sexuality."  In particular, young boys will need to be taught to respect girls and women, well before they reach their sexual maturity.

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"Unless we empower our people, educate them, care for their health, allow them to enter economic life --on a equal basis and rich in opportunity-- poverty will persist, ignorance will be pandemic, and people's needs will suffocate under their numbers."
--Gro Harlem Brundtland.