Population Council Research that makes a difference

Family Planning Programs for the 21st Century:
Rationale and Design

The evidence is clear: Family planning improves health, reduces poverty, and empowers women. Yet, today, more than 200 million women in the developing world want to avoid pregnancy but are not using a modern method of contraception.

Bongaarts, John, John Cleland, John W. Townsend, Jane T. Bertrand, Monica Das Gupta. 2012. Family Planning Programs for the 21st Century: Rationale and Design. New York: Population Council (PDF)

If demand for family planning were met, 54 million unintended pregnancies, more than 79,000 maternal deaths, and more than a million infant deaths could be averted each year. Families could save more and begin to break the grip of poverty. And communities could make greater investments in education, health care, and infrastructure.

This publication provides a roadmap to help policymakers and donors in priority countries implement high-quality family planning programs. The book explains the rationale for increased funding and support for voluntary family planning, and outlines how reinvigorated programs should be structured to operate most effectively.

• Download the book (PDF)
• Download the executive summary (PDF en français)
• Read a policy brief summarizing the book's recommendations
• Watch a short video about the importance of family planning
• Read a roundtable conversation among the book's authors, moderated by Council president Peter J. Donaldson
• Order a print copy of the book
  
  

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In this short video conversation, Council colleagues John Bongaarts and John W. Townsend discuss the need for renewed investment in family planning.