Despite remarkable achievements in the past five decades, much more must be done to break the barriers that prevent women, men and couples from fully exercising their reproductive rights and choices, says new UNFPA report recently.
The year 2019 is unique as it marks two important milestones in the field of sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights: 50 years since the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) began operations globally, with Filipino national Rafael Salas as its first Executive Director and 25 years since the landmark International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo where 179 governments agreed on a call for all people to have access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including voluntary family planning, and safe pregnancy and childbirth services. UNFPA’s State of World Population Report 2019 traces advances in reproductive health on the anniversaries of these two important milestones.
Much has been achieved in the Philippines since 1969. The average number of births per woman was 6.0 in 1973. Today it is 2.7, even though the country has the highest total fertility rate in the ASEAN region. In order to reach the national target of 2.1 average number of births per woman under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP), the Philippines needs to step up its efforts.
According to the 2017 Philippines National Demographic and Health Survey, about 17 percent of currently married women aged 15-49 have expressed intention to space or limit their children but are not using any method of family planning. Such proportion of unmet need for family planning services is highest among adolescents at 28 percent.
For more information about the State of World Population Report 2019, kindly see attached press release and highlights. We have also attached the full report or you may also download it here for your reference: https://www.unfpa.org/swop-2019
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