Resource Library

Reaching Youth with Modern Contraception

Youth represent more than 30 percent of the population in many developing countries. Yet, they often face financial, geographic, and cultural obstacles in accessing modern family planning methods. Each year, more than seven million births occur to girls under age 18, and two million of those births occur to girls under 15. Unplanned pregnancies result in 3.2 million unsafe abortions among adolescents each year. Improving access to a wide range of family planning methods is critical to improving lives of young people around the world.
The private sector has a particularly important role to play in meeting the demand for modern contraception among young people. This brief sheds light on the extent that women and girls use the private sector for modern contraception, the type of method they use, and how marriage may influence their options.