By Meghana Bommareddy, FP2030 Intern
The world today has the largest population of youths and young adults in history. Nearly 2 billion of the more than 7.8 billion (or 23.6%) of the people on this planet are between the ages of 10 and 24, and 80% of them live in developing economies. Yet even though young people are especially vulnerable to the consequences of unintended pregnancies, which can lead to serious and negative outcomes such as high-risk births and maternal death, they have too often not been prioritized in the global family planning agenda.
Recognizing the importance of evaluating adolescent- and youth-focused data, the FP2030 Performance Monitoring and Evidence Working Group, a group of family planning measurement experts, formalized annual reporting of supplemental indicators on adolescents and youths. Along with the release of the FP2030 Progress Report for 2020-2021, I’m excited to share that an updated Adolescents and Youth data file has also been released. This file features indicators on adolescent and youth population, key life events, family planning use, and adolescent birthrates.
As countries make commitments to FP2030, it is critical to address the contraceptive needs of adolescents and youths. This data file allows all stakeholders to review more detailed sexual and reproductive health data on this demographic group and help identify possible gaps in meeting their needs.
As a young student intern at FP2030, I’m grateful to work on a file that highlights data for adolescent and youth populations. Young people will be a central component of FP2030, and we invite you to follow along on this journey.
