Family Planning For The Developing World

Few investments promise as positive a return as family planning and reproductive health care. But in the last decade, U.S. funding for international family planning programs has declined by almost 40%.

We need significant new funding and policy language to strengthen family planning programs in the fiscal year 2009 State Department, Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. Specifically, provide for family planning in the developing world, including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

By providing women with access to modern contraceptives, we not only improve the quality of life for women and children all over the world -- we will also help protect the environment and relieve pressure on natural resources.

Despite advances in family planning, population growth remains a worldwide concern. Population growth leads to the destruction of forests, the spread of deserts, the pollution and over-fishing of oceans and waterways, and it is a major contributor to the climate change crisis. The end results are resource depletion, environmental degradation and malnutrition.

The most important determinant of declining fertility in developing countries is contraceptive use, which explains 92% of the variation in fertility among 50 countries. Overall fertility declined by approximately one third, from an average of six to four children per woman, with dramatic decreases occurring in some parts of the world (e.g., 24% decline in fertility in Asia and Latin America, approximately 50% in Thailand, and approximately 35% in Colombia, Jamaica, and Mexico). As fertility declined in developing countries, the infant mortality rate decreased from approximately 150 deaths per 1000 live births in the 1950s to approximately 80 per 1000 in the early 2000s. Among married women of reproductive age in developing countries, 53% plan the size of their families; 90% of these women report using modern birth-control methods (e.g., female sterilization, oral contraceptives, and IUDs).

If the United States wants to meet the 21st century challenges, then it is time for a change in direction: a return to real investment in family planning. Today, more than 200 million women in the developing world wish to delay or end childbearing but do not have access to modern contraceptives. Tell Congress to support a real investment in family planning which will reap massive rewards for the whole planet: Please read and sign petition if you like.