FAMILY PLANNING; BEST INVESTMENT TO COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT

The  UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, described family planning has the best investment for countries to achieve progress in the Sustainable Development Goals.

Moon disclosed this on Monday, in a  message to the International Conference on Family Planning in Bali, Indonesia.

Moon who represented  by Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said family planning was key to unlocking the untold opportunities for individuals and nations. According to him, ``family planning saves lives. 

``We have seen in countries around the world that maternal and child health improve when women have access to services and information they need to freely decide the number, timing and spacing of their children.

“Fewer unintended pregnancies mean fewer maternal and infant deaths, fewer abortions and fewer miscarriages.’” He said.

 The UN chief said that by empowering women and girls to make informed decisions about their bodies, it would enable them to make informed decisions about how they would live to seek education and to stay in school. He noted that once women and girls were empowered, they would develop the skills to find decent work and contribute to the economic growth of their families,their communities and nations.

 He added that as Secretary-General of the UN, he held high the banner of empowering women and girls, promoting their health and defending their rights. 

``We have made great progress under the Millennium Development Goals, including through the Every Woman Every Child movement. ``The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for us to leave no one behind and to do that, we must intensify our efforts in that direction.’’

According to NAN, the UN chief said that in September, the UN launched a new Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ health to accelerate progress. The new strategy, he said, was aimed at providing roadmap toward ending preventable deaths of women and children by 2030 and ensuring that every woman, child and adolescent thrive.