Contraception and Human Rights

The access to contraceptive information and services to different methods is fundamental to the health and human rights of individuals. According to the estimates released by the WHO in 2014 more than 222 million women and girls worldwide do not have access to modern methods of contraception. Unfortunately this unmet need is mostly seen in the areas where maternal mortality rates are the highest.

As defined in the Programme of Action that resulted from the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994, reproductive health is “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 to its functions and processes” (4, Paragraph 7.2).

In the three decades since the ICPD , more women worldwide have been able to make decisions about their health and as a result have fewer children due to access to contraceptive methods. Unfortunately many women and girls have been denied their right to contraceptive use and this has contributed to increased maternal and infant mortality rates.

This presentation will discuss the economic, social and cultural factors which pose challenges to a woman’s access to contraception and fulfillment of her human rights. Examples of the work being done by UN agencies such as the WHO, UNFPA and other international players in addressing the unmet need of contraception worldwide using a human rights programmatic approach will also be discussed.