Statement on Family Planning for Women and Girls as a Life-saving Intervention in Humanitarian Settings


In May 2010, the IAWG adopted the Statement on Family Planning for Women and Girls as a Life-saving Intervention in Humanitarian Settings as an advocacy statement.

Family planning enables couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children. This is achieved through access to information and contraceptive methods that include short-term, long-term and permanent methods. A woman’s ability to space and limit her pregnancies has a direct impact on her health and well-being and on the outcome of each pregnancy, as well as on broader global commitments, such as the Millennium Development Goals.

Why is family planning important in humanitarian settings?

Women, men and adolescents’ reproductive health needs do not disappear when they are forced to flee their homes and communities as a result of conflict or natural disaster. Displacement can increase people’s desire and need for family planning while they simultaneously experience increased barriers to access. Those fleeing an emergency may not be able to bring their contraceptives with them or obtain them at their site of refuge. Women may also wish to postpone or cease bearing children in emergencies to avoid exposing newborns to the risks of displacement. The disruption of family and social support structures can further pose challenges for adolescents, who, without access to adequate information and services, can be more at risk of exposure to unsafe sexual practices. It is therefore vital that family planning is properly integrated into humanitarian response and existing supply systems to ensure that contraceptives such as condoms, pills, injectables, emergency contraceptive pills and intrauterine devices (IUDs) are available to meet demand from the onset of an emergency.

It is critical to ensure that crisis-affected populations have access to family planning services from the onset of an emergency in order to:

To read the full statement, download it here.

The IAWG is advocating with partner agencies to enhance their internal commitment to servicing crisis-affected populations with family planning supplies and services.

To read IAWG’s letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), please click here.

To read UNHCR’s response to IAWG’s letter, outlining the agency’s commitment to family planning in crises, please click here.

Family Planning Baseline Assessment Reports
In collaboration with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Women's Refugee Commission undertook a five-country baseline assessment on family planning to document knowledge, beliefs, perceptions and practices of refugees, as well as the state of service provision.

Click on the country names below to download the relevant reports with their findings and recommendations.

The five-site summary report is available to download in English and in French.