Policy & Issue Briefs

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) offer precise targets for reducing poverty and promoting global development, but they remain incomplete if they do not build from and incorporate the objectives of other major international agreements, particularly those reached at the International … Continue reading »

More than 850 million people worldwide are classified as undernourished, many of whom suffer from chronic hunger (also known as food insecurity). Rapid population growth is intensifying food insecurity in parts of the developing world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where … Continue reading »

Nearly 80 million unintended pregnancies occur worldwide every year. More than half of these pregnancies end in abortion, often in countries where abortion is illegal and access to contraception is limited. Access to voluntary family planning services, including contraception, is … Continue reading »

In 1994, at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), 179 nations agreed on a plan for achieving universal access to basic reproductive health care by 2015. Today, vast differences remain in reproductive health status between rich and poor … Continue reading »

Since 1965, Congress has appropriated money in the foreign assistance bill for population assistance to developing countries to advance the U.S. foreign policy goals of promoting sustainable development and health in these countries. This money supports family planning and related … Continue reading »

At the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994, the international community pledged to share the costs of reproductive health care in developing countries, estimated at US$18.5 billion annually by the year 2005. Donor nations committed to provide … Continue reading »

In 1994, at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, 179 nations endorsed an approach to improving reproductive health based on meeting individual needs and respecting human rights. They pledged to share the costs needed to … Continue reading »

Sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, are among the most important elements of the global effort to contain the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Through a well-established infrastructure, they help provide the supplies, education and information that are known to be … Continue reading »

Continued high rates of AIDS-related illness and death in some of the world’s poorest countries could impose unprecedented changes in their population age structures, stunt their economic development and retard their demographic transition—the change from a population characterized by short … Continue reading »

The international community has repeatedly agreed to meet young people’s developmental needs, including those relating to sexual and reproductive health. Yet young people often have little or no access to the information and services they need to make healthy, informed … Continue reading »