Family planning empowers women, helps reduce poverty - and can save lives, says U.N. agency head
p>DAKAR (TrustLaw) – Governments in developing countries must ensure that women have access to family planning services in order to save lives, the head of the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) said.One third of maternal deaths in the world could be prevented if family planning needs were met, Babatunde Osotimehin said at the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) in Dakar, which runs from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2.
“There are more than 215 million women in developing countries who want family planning but cannot have it so we need governments to act now to give them access to such care,” Osotimehin told TrustLaw.
Every day, about 1,000 women die from complications in pregnancy and childbirth, according to the World Health Organization. Almost all the deaths occur in developing countries.
Family planning experts say many die from lack of health care, and because they give birth too young or don't space their pregnancies so their bodies do not have enough time to recover between deliveries.
Osotimehin said family planning also empowers people and helps reduce poverty as it enables women to delay pregnancies so that they can seize educational and employment opportunities.
“Every woman, every adolescent girl has the right to be educated and to have access to information and services so that they can make choices for their lives,” he said.
UNFPA estimates that $3.6 billion would be enough to make modern family planning available to everyone in developing countries.
Countries need to stock up on contraceptives, improve maternal health facilities, increase the number of clinics, doctors and midwives and develop family planning and reproductive health education, Osotimehin said.
“I hope that at the end of this conference both donor and recipient governments will commit to investing in family planning,” he said.
The U.K. Department for International Development (DFID) announced at the start of the Dakar conference that it is increasing funding for family planning through the UNFPA. The funding includes £35 million ($54 million) for the agency’s programme to improve people's access to reproductive health care.
(Editing by Alex Whiting)
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