International Family Planning and Development

The start of family planning as a formal tool of international development traces it origins to May 13, 1968, when the International Conference on Human Rights issued what became known as the Proclamation of Teheran.{{Cite web|url=https://www.unfpa.org/news/fifty-years-ago-it-became-official-family-planning-human-right|title=Fifty years ago, it became official: Family planning is a human right|website=www.unfpa.org|language=en|access-date=December 17, 2018}} The Teheran Proclamation stated that for parents, being able to choose how many children they want to have and to choose the spacing of those children is a basic human right.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Education/Training/Compilation/Pages/a)TheProclamationofTeheran(1968).aspx|title=OHCHR {{!}} a) The Proclamation of Teheran (1968)|website=www.ohchr.org|access-date=December 17, 2018}} While the importance of family planning had been known to the women it affected the most, it was not until the 1968 conference that family planning was seen as the obligations of countries and governments around the world. Family planning was and still is seen as a tool to not only help lower overall global fertility rates but also aid increasing the economic and social development in many countries, particularly in developing nations by lowering health risks associated with pregnancy and childbirth to women and children.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/issue_papers/IP176/index2.html|title=Family Planning in Developing Countries|last=DaVanzo|first=Julie|website=www.rand.org|date=August 17, 1998 |language=en|access-date=December 17, 2018}} Unintended pregnancies and high fertility rates can affect everything from quality of life, nutrition standards, access to education and economic opportunities and even access to scarce resources such as food and water for women and children. Family planning programs seek to give women of child-bearing age an opportunity to make their own reproductive choices. In 2017, an estimated $1.27 billion was raised for family planning programs worldwide.{{Cite web|url=https://www.devex.com/news/sponsored/progress-on-family-planning-way-off-target-fp2020-update-reveals-93823|title=Progress on family planning way off target, FP2020 update reveals|date=November 13, 2018|website=Devex|access-date=December 18, 2018}} Partnerships such as Family Planning 2020 (FP2020), an international coalition jointly operating by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations and the governments of the UK and the US, seek to increase the availability of contraceptives to women who would otherwise not have access to them.{{Cite web|url=https://www.familyplanning2020.org/|title=Family Planning 2020|website=www.familyplanning2020.org|access-date=December 18, 2018}}

International family planning programs as a part of development plans can have many positive benefits for women and the communities they serve. The Guttmacher Institute noted in a recent study that investment in contraceptive and maternal healthcare programs can not only significantly decrease the number of unintended pregnancies worldwide but also unplanned births and induced and unsafe abortions. Other studies have similarly shown that family planning programs can reduce the maternal mortality rate associated with childbirth. The maternal death rate in developing countries is much higher than in developed countries. Additionally, family planning programs help reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS. It is often argued that family planning empowers women to make choices about their bodies and their reproductive health.{{Cite web|url=http://www.familyplanning2020.org/sites/default/files/FP2020_Statement_of_Principles_11x17_EN_092215.pdf|title=Family Planning 2020: Right and Empowerment Principles for Family Planning|website=www.familyplanning2020.org}}

While many studies and organizations have pointed out the benefits that family planning programs provide for the women they serve, they are not without their criticisms. There have been several documented cases around the world where women have been coerced into family planning. Researcher Kalpana Wilson noted that financial incentives given to doctors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that sterilized women as part of family planning programs amounted to creating a quota system that was rife for abuse and encouraged forced sterilizations for monetary gain, especially in vulnerable and marginalized communities.{{Cite journal|last=Wilson|first=Kalpana|date=2018|title=For Reproductive Justice in an Era of Gates and Modi: the Violence of India's Population Policies|journal=Feminist Review|volume=119| issue = 1|pages=89–105|doi=10.1057/s41305-018-0112-0 |s2cid=149494726 |url=https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/22339/1/Kalpana%20Wilson%20Feminist%20Review%202018%20accepted.pdf |via=}} In India, one doctor who had performed tens of thousands of laparoscopic tubectomies was charged with performing the surgical procedure in unsanitary and hazardous conditions that led to several injuries and several deaths. Instances of forced sterilization is not an isolated case confined to India. In Peru, over 2000 poor women belonging to rural, indigenous communities were coerced and forced to be sterilized between 1995 and 2000.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/mar/14/peru-women-forced-sterilisation-justice|title=Peruvian women intent on bringing state to book over forced sterilisations|last=Collyns|first=Dan|date=March 14, 2014|work=The Guardian|access-date=December 18, 2018|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} Critics of the Peruvian program suggest the health care workers were incentivized to sterilize the women for cash bonuses of ten dollars per woman. Since the 1980s, charges of forced sterilizations and abortions have been associated with the Chinese government's family planning program as well.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/10/29/the-human-suffering-caused-by-chinas-one-child-policy/|title=The human suffering caused by China's one child policy|last=Taylor|first=Adam|date=October 29, 2015|newspaper=Washington Post}}

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Category:Family planning