In News: Recently, the United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) State of World Population Report 2021 titled ‘My Body is My Own’ launched.
About State of World Population Report 2021
- The State of World Population report is UNFPA’s annual publication.
- Published yearly since 1978.
- It focuses on emerging issues in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights, bringing them into the mainstream and exploring the challenges and opportunities they present for international development.
Key Findings of the 2021 Report
Global scenario
- About 80% of countries have laws supporting sexual health and well-being.
- About 56% of countries have laws and policies supporting comprehensive sexuality education.
- 55% of women are fully empowered to make choices over health care, contraception and the ability to say yes or no to sex.
- 71% of countries guarantee access to overall maternity care.
- 75% of countries legally ensure full, equal access to contraception.
Indian scenario
- According to NFHS-4 (2015-2016), about 12% of currently married women independently make decisions about their own healthcare, while 63% decide in consultation with their spouse.
- 23% women, it is the spouse that mainly makes decisions about healthcare.
- 8% of currently married women take decisions on the use of contraception independently, while 83% decide jointly with their spouse.
- only 47% of women using a contraceptive were informed about the side effects of the method, and 54% of women were provided information about other contraceptives.
United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA)
- UNFPA is formally named the United Nations Population Fund.
- The organization was created in 1969, the same year the United Nations General Assembly declared “parents have the exclusive right to determine freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children.”
- UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency.
- Mission: To deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
UNFPA Supports
- Reproductive health care for women and youth in more than 150 countries – which are home to more than 80 percent of the world’s population
- The health of pregnant women, especially the 1 million who face life-threatening complications each month
- Reliable access to modern contraceptives sufficient to benefit 20 million women a year
- Training of thousands of health workers to help ensure at least 90 per cent of all child births are supervised by skilled attendants
- Prevention of gender-based violence, which affects 1 in 3 women
- Abandonment of female genital mutilation, which harms 3 million girls annually
- Prevention of teen pregnancies, complications of which are the leading cause of death for girls 15-19 years old
- Efforts to end child marriage, which could affect an estimated 70 million girls over the next 5 years
- Delivery of safe birth supplies, dignity kits and other life-saving materials to survivors of conflict and natural disaster
- Censuses, data collection and analyses, which are essential for development planning.
Source: unfpa.org & The Hindu
