On Friday 20th May 2022, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Welfare, on behalf of His Excellency the Vice President of The Republic of The Gambia, launched the 2022 State of World Population Report at the Alliance Française de Banjul.
According to the report “Seeing the Unseen: The case for action in the neglected crisis of unintended pregnancy”, released by UNFPA, nearly half of all pregnancies, totalling 121 million each year throughout the world, are unintended. The report further indicated that over 60 per cent of unintended pregnancies end in abortion and an estimated 45% of all abortions are unsafe, causing 5 – 13% of all maternal deaths, thereby having a major impact on the world’s ability to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
In a press release by UNFPA Gambia, it is indicated that in The Gambia, the unmet need for Family Planning is currently at 24% while the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate for modern methods of contraceptives is estimated at 19% and the Total Demand for Family Planning among women is about 43%. This shows that a considerable part of the population needs modern contraceptive commodities but do not have access.
Furthermore, between 2015 to 2019, unintended pregnancies in The Gambia stood at 54 per 1000 women and only 23% of women can make decisions on their sexual and reproductive health and rights. “These figures reflect the pressure societies place on women and girls to become mothers. An unintended pregnancy is not necessarily a personal failure and may be due to the lack of autonomy society allows or the value placed on women’s lives”.
UNFPA says in collaboration with the Government of The Gambia, they remain committed to continue investing in the realisation of zero unmet need for family planning and the empowerment of women and girls and their families, to be able to make informed choices.