To improve commodities’ use and reduce unintended pregnancies, maternal mortality and meet FP2030 goals in African countries, like Nigeria, access to information about the available contraceptive options for family planning must be guaranteed as a human right.
An outcome of the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning, FP2030’s objective is to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health services and rights by 2030, as laid out in Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 5.
Similarly, research confirms the role information and counseling about safe and and available modern contraceptive options plays in increasing access and voluntary use of family planning.
Studies show that the rise in contraceptive usage leads to the decline in total fertility rates in developed countries, thereby reducing the average number of births per woman from six to three.
The 2022 International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP2022) urged every country to recognise and adopt access to safe, voluntary family planning as a human right.
Furthermore, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) asserts that access to safe and voluntary family planning methods is a fundamental human right.
UNFPA stresses that increasing access and voluntary use of family planning play central role in promoting gender equality and empowering women, and is also a crucial factor in poverty reduction.
Yet in developing countries, including Nigeria, an estimated 257 million women who wishes to avoid pregnancy are not using safe and effective family planning methods, for reasons ranging from lack of access to information or services to lack support from their partners or communities.
This threatens their ability to build a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities. UNFPA works to support family planning by ensuring a steady, reliable supply of quality contraceptives; strengthening national health systems; advocating for policies supportive of family planning; and gathering data to support this work.
Indeed, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends using contraceptives for child spacing or giving birth to children every three years rather than having too many and too young children. According to the WHO, contraceptives is the best cost-effective way to reduce maternal, neonatal, and child mortality.
Indeed, the WHO says, “Use of contraception advances the human right of people to determine the number and spacing of their children.”
The world health body argued that doing so lowers the proportion of high-risk children, abortions, and unplanned pregnancies, preventing overpopulation and its associated economic costs.
Therefore, it currently recommends the use of family planning within an interval between the last live birth and the next pregnancy of at least 24 months, a birth interval of 33 months.
Ensuring access for all people to their preferred contraceptive methods advances several human rights and is a globally accepted practice.
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These include the right to life and liberty, freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to work and education, as well as bringing significant health and other benefits.
Despite the fact that family planning saves lives and advances sustainable human rights and economic development, many couples who require it do not have easy access to it.
Other factors such as marital status, job considerations, financial situation, or disabilities may affect the ability to have and raise children influence its use. However, the cultural element is the most significant impediment to family planning in Nigeria.
Yet, Nigeria is a signatory to the United Nations (UN) provision that recognises family planning as a fundamental human right that enables women to make decisions and take responsibility for their reproductive health.
Since 1950, the UN has affirmed the right to family planning. In fact, the global body declared contraception to be a human right in a report released in 2012.
The 1968 International Conference on Human Rights first recognised family planning as a human right. And as a result, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has set its attention on “Family Planning is a Human Right.”
According to Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA, “family planning is not only an issue of human rights; it is also critical to women’s empowerment, poverty reduction, and attaining sustainable development.” Although the Federal Government of Nigeria agreed in 2011 to provide free family planning goods to all women in public facilities, women continue to be denied this right.
“Chipping away at women’s access to information is a direct attack on their access to healthcare, and the right to make informed autonomous decisions about their lives and bodies,” said Amanda Klasing, Senior Researcher at Human Rights Watch. According to the conference’s Tehran Proclamation, “parents have a basic human right to select freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children.” The conference linked family planning to the human right to dignity and worth.
Similarly, the WHO at ICFP2022 tasked countries to adopt family planning and respect for reproductive health and rights as the means to achieving Universal health coverage (UCH) and effective primary health care (PHC).
The world health body at the conference, therefore, urged countries to endorse family planning as a critical tool for meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including education, food security, economic prosperity, and addressing climate change problems.
The National Family Planning Communication Plan (2017-2020) further provides approaches for improving the use of modern contraceptives in Nigeria.
This includes increasing the proportion of women who are fully aware of modern family planning methods from 83.8 percent to 95 percent and achieving 50 percent coverage of couples who discuss family planning issues.
Others are achieving 50 percent coverage of Nigerian political leaders and decision-makers who openly support family planning as well as achieving the yearly release of at least 50 percent of the funds required by each state for adequate family planning service delivery.
Clearly, everyone have an urgent duty to do to guarantee that the fundamental right to information, counselling and access to family planning is protected, not just in terms of the legislation but also through advocacy, education, and communication programmes.
Government, lawmakers, stakeholders abd everyone must act now to enable Nigeria meet the FP2030 goals.
