Putting families first in a world of 7 billion people | Photos, videos & real life stories

On 31 October 2011, global population will pass the 7 billion mark - more than double the number of people who were alive 50 years ago. Most of this growth is taking place in the world’s poorest countries. This will add to the pressures that their governments face to provide basic services like health and education for their people.

The lack of choice women and girls have over family planning is a major cause of poverty and contributes to rapid population growth. For the millions of girls who are still children themselves, pregnancy means giving up school and the chance of an education that would allow them to support themselves and their families.

Over the next four years, British aid is changing lives by making it possible for at least 10 million more women to use modern methods of family planning so that they can decide for themselves whether, when and how many children to have.

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Core Facts

215 million women who want to delay or avoid a pregnancy have no access to family planning. Every year there are 75 million unintended pregnancies.
Globally, meeting the unmet need for family planning could avoid around a third of maternal deaths and a fifth of newborn deaths, and save an estimated $5.1 billion dollars.
Britain is committed to driving down the numbers of women who die every year in pregnancy or childbirth. By 2015, UK aid will save the lives of 50,000 pregnant women and 250,000 newborn babies.
Family planning is integral to reducing the global fertility rate and the rapid growth of the world�s population.
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There are 215 million women around the world who would like to delay or avoid pregnancy but have no access to family planning. This is a major cause of rapid population growth - and poverty.

The British Government is working to improve access to contraception and family planning education for 10 million women in the developing world. This will prevent 5 million unintended pregnancies, save the lives of 50,000 women and avoid the deaths of 250,000 newborns by 2015.

International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell