The implementing partners work towards enhanced gender equality and empowerment of women and girls and those who have other gender identities in Latin America and the Caribbean focuses on raising awareness of their rights, expanding their access to contraceptives and other essential products, and preventing violence in their lives.
Family planning allows people to attain their desired number of children, if any, and to determine the spacing of their pregnancies. It is achieved through use of contraceptive methods and the treatment of infertility.
Contraceptive information and services are fundamental to the health and human rights of all individuals.
Everyday millions of women, girls and gender-diverse people around the globe face many obstacles in being able to make decisions about their own lives and realizing their full economic and human potential. Access to modern contraception is crucial to women’s empowerment as it increases their decision-making power and autonomy leading to improved livelihoods.
Despite the increasing international attention to global inequalities, unmet need for modern contraception remains a persistent challenge: In Latin America, 18 million women have an unmet need in modern contraception, leading to 11 million unplanned pregnancies, including 4 million unsafe abortions.
The right to contraception involves access to related information to empower individuals to make safe, and well-informed decisions about their reproductive health.
By reducing rates of unintended pregnancies, contraception also reduces the need for unsafe abortion and reduces HIV transmissions from mothers to newborns.
Increased use of effective contraception contributes to fewer unintended pregnancies.
Fewer unintended pregnancies leads to fewer induced abortions.
National legislation should provide right to access contraceptives, and especially emergency contraception
Coverage of contraceptives within the national health system.
Providing access to a broad basket of modern contraceptive methods starting from girls in adolescent age, would be a viable investment option for LAC governments to promote women’s participation in the labour market, to lower health expenditures, and to boost tax revenue.
Public health institutions must ensure online information on broad range of modern and effective contraception, including Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs), such as IUDs or implants, and where to get it.
Public contraception policies contribute to access to health services, respect of human rights but also economic advances.
Public institutions must improve transparency and accountability by creating and publishing online a dedicated budget line for family planning and contraceptive procurement.
