Achieving the Millennium Development Goals The contribution of fulfilling the unmet need for family planning Scott Moreland, The Futures Group/POLICY Project Jean-Pierre Guengant, Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement

The number of women of reproductive age is large and growing.

The number of pregnancies will on average double in the next 25 years.

A significant percentage of these pregnancies are unintended.

Many women want to space or limit births, but do not use family planning.

TraditionalModern Nigeria32%68% Mali28.4%71.6% Ghana25.8%74.2% Madagascar38.5%61.5% Percentage Distribution of Users by Traditional or Modern Family Planning Methods Use of less effective, traditional contraceptive methods is high.

Meeting the unmet need for family planning will increase the percentage of women practicing family planning.

The number of women using family planning will increase when unmet need is met.

Meeting the unmet need for family planning will reduce unintended pregnancies.

…as well as reduce the number of abortions.

…and therefore reduce the number of unintended births.

1.Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2.Achieve universal primary education 3.Promote gender equality ad empower women 4.Reduce child mortality 5.Improve maternal health 6.Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases 7.Ensure environmental sustainability 8.Develop a global partnership for development

Reducing unmet need for FP can help countries to meet the MD Goals by reducing the cost of meeting the MD Goals. Liz Gilbert, the David & Lucile Packard Foundation Chamberlain Diala, JHU/CCP

Focus on 4 Millennium Development Goals: Achieve universal primary education Achieve universal primary education Reduce child mortality Reduce child mortality Improve maternal health Improve maternal health Ensure environmental sustainability Ensure environmental sustainability

Millennium Development Goals and Targets

MDG Ensure that by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete the course of primary schooling.

Millennium Development Goals and Targets Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under five mortality rate. MDG

Millennium Development Goals and Targets MDG Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the under maternal mortality ratio.

Millennium Development Goals and Targets By 2015, reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation. MDG

Calculating the savings in the costs of meeting the MD goals due to increased contraceptive use. 1. Project the population with constant FP use and with unmet need fulfilled. 2. Calculate the costs of meeting MD goals for each projection. 3. Compare the costs projections and calculate the difference.

Achieve universal primary education

Fulfilling unmet need generates savings by reducing the costs of meeting MD primary education goals. Achieve universal primary education $43m $52 m

Reduce child mortality

Fulfilling unmet need generates savings by reducing the costs of child vaccination MD goals. Reduce child mortality $9.5m$32m

Improve maternal mortality

Fulfilling unmet need reduces the number of maternal deaths. Improve maternal health

Fulfilling unmet need reduces the number of maternal deaths. Improve maternal health 17,000

Ensure Environmental Sustainability

The costs of achieving safe water and sanitation goals are reduced by fulfilling unmet need. Ensure environmental sustainability

Fulfilling unmet need reduces air pollution so that MD environmental goals will be easier to achieve. Ensure environmental sustainability 670k 260k

Weighing the Benefits and Costs of Meeting the MD Goals by fulfilling Unmet Need for Family Planning

The benefits of reducing unmet need are much greater than the costs. NigeriaMadagascarMaliGhana Costs(Millions) B/C Ratio Costs(Millions) Costs (Millions) B/C Ratio Costs (Millions) B/C Ratio FP$250.7$40.8$63.6$91.5 Education$ $ $ $ Immunization$ $ $ $ Water$ $ $ $ Total$ $ $ $

The additional costs of reducing unmet need for FP are (partially) offset by MDG cost savings by 2015.

In conclusion: Low level of contraceptive use Low level of contraceptive use –Very slow increase in use –High proportion of traditional methods –High levels of unmet needs Resulting in: Resulting in: –Many Unintended pregnancies –Many abortions –Many unintended births Eliminating unmet need will allow couples to achieve their reproductive rights by reducing : Eliminating unmet need will allow couples to achieve their reproductive rights by reducing : –Unintended pregnancies –Abortions –Unintended births

Achieving the Millennium Development Goals will be a major challenge. Achieving the Millennium Development Goals will be a major challenge. These goals will be easier and cheaper to achieve if contraceptive use increases as a result of fulfilling unmet need. These goals will be easier and cheaper to achieve if contraceptive use increases as a result of fulfilling unmet need. The additional costs of reducing unmet need for FP are (partially) offset by MDG cost savings by 2015

The time has come to reposition family planning in West Africa so as to help reach the Millennium Development Goals.

POLICY Project