UN to boost family planning services for millions of women in areas emerging from conflict

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – The U.N. Population Fund says it wants to help an estimated 22 million women gain access to family planning services in territories emerging from conflicts and natural disasters.

Babatunde Osotimehin, the fund's executive director, says the fund will work with the International Planned Parenthood Federation to address unmet needs for family planning among marginalized populations in Bolivia, Côte d'Ivoire, Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Kenya, Liberia, Myanmar, Nigeria, the Pacific Islands, Pakistan and South Sudan.

Their plans include boosting family planning information and services, collaborating with governments and organizations in these countries to ensure affordable health care and encouraging comprehensive sex education.

Osotimehin said Tuesday on the sidelines of an international women's conference that it is "not enough to just distribute contraceptives."