On 31 October 2011 the global population will pass the 7 billion mark. That's more than double the number of people who were alive 50 years ago.
Most of the current population growth is taking place in the world's poorest countries. This will add to the pressures that governments in these countries face to provide basic services like health and education for their people. Combined with other pressures like climate change and water scarcity, this could mean even greater poverty for people already struggling. The lack of choice that women and girls have over their own lives and bodies 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.
Today, 215 million women who would like to delay or avoid having children are unable to do so. Globally meeting this 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.
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.
"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
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