Contraceptives are essential and life-saving – and they are under threat globally

Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Ms. Diene Keita

Contraceptives save lives. For almost 50 years, global health authorities have recognized contraception as essential medicine. People want them, use them, and rely on them every day.

The evidence is abundantly clear: When women and adolescent girls have access to contraceptives, their pregnancies are more likely to be planned and safe, they are more likely to complete school, be employed and fulfil their potential, their children are healthier, and their societies are more prosperous. The truth is that contraceptives reduce abortion rates and lower the incidence of death and disability related to complications of pregnancy and childbirth.

Moreover, contraceptives bring significant economic benefits. It is estimated that every $1 spent ending unmet need for contraception and ending preventable maternal deaths would yield $8 in economic benefits.

Tragically, access to contraception is under threat, due to global funding shortfalls.

UNFPA is seeing contraceptive stocks dwindle in communities that rely on international family planning funding. Health systems are bracing for a rise in unintended pregnancies, which are in turn linked to higher rates of maternal death, including due to unsafe abortion. And the impacts are likely to extend far beyond health care: We can expect to see adolescent pregnancies, school dropouts, and even increased risk of gender-based violence.

UNFPA and its partners have worked for decades to strengthen supply chains, to ensure availability of quality, affordable contraceptives, and to deliver those medicines to even the most hard-to-reach communities. That infrastructure and those investments have been life-changing and lifesaving for millions of people around the world, and need to be protected and enhanced.

Let's work together to keep our promise to women and adolescent girls, uphold their rights and choices, and ensure they have access to the contraceptives they need to plan and forge a healthy and prosperous future.