Family planning is a human right

July 11 is World Population Day. For this year, the theme is “Family Planning is a Human Right,” in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the International Conference on Human Rights held in in Tehran, Iran in 1968. The historic Proclamation of Teheran, the Final Act of the International Conference on Human Rights, was the first international proclamation that affirmed the basic right of parents to determine freely and responsibly the number and the spacing of their children.

Family planning is a human right and is an integral part of sexual and reproductive health and rights and women’s empowerment. The obligation to make it universally accessible is still relevant, if not more, 50 years after the Proclamation.