14 November 2012: The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has released its report on the State of World Population 2012, calling on the international community to secure an emphasis on family planning in the post-2015 sustainable development agenda.

The report, titled “By Choice, Not By Chance: Family Planning, Human Rights and Development,” presents three other broad recommendations for recognizing family planning as a sustainable development issue: reinforcing a rights-based approach; ensuring equality by focusing on specific excluded groups; and raising funds to invest fully in family planning.

In support of a rights-based approach, the report refers to the mandate of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), as well as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including the target of ensuring universal access to reproductive health. The report highlights that progress towards this target currently lags behind other achievements towards the MDGs.

Noting that the post-2015 sustainable development agenda likely will be based on the fundamental principles of human rights, equality and sustainability, the UNFPA report looks forward to increased policy coherence in development goals at the global, regional, national and sub-national levels. It argues that family planning is an example of this kind of coherence, as it provides mutually reinforcing gains in poverty reduction, gender equality, youth empowerment and health. [Publication: State of World Population 2012] [UNFPA Press Release]