UN calls family planning an 'essential human right'

The U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) on Wednesday called family planning an "essential human right” and urged the world's nations to help meet the needs of 222 million women in developing countries.

In its annual report on the state of the world's population, the fund said spending an extra $4.1 billion a year to make family planning available to everyone would reduce costs for maternal and newborn healthcare by $11.3 billion annually. 

It would also help combat poverty, exclusion, poor health and gender inequality, the report said.

“Family planning is not a privilege, but a right. Yet, too many women — and men — are denied this human right,” UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin said in a statement announcing the report. 

“Family planning has a positive multiplier effect on development. Not only does the ability for a couple to choose when and how many children to have help lift nations out of poverty, but it is also one of the most effective means of empowering women. Women who use contraception are generally healthier, better educated, more empowered in their households and communities and more economically productive. Women’s increased labour-force participation boosts nations’ economies.”

The debate over family planning played a key role in the U.S. presidential election, with the Catholic Church revolting over the healthcare law's mandate that employers provide birth control for free. And the U.N. fund has long come under Republican criticism, notably because it operates in China, which has a one-child policy.

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