Levels , Trends and Determinants of Contraceptive Use in Rwanda , 2005

In developing countries , unintended fertility fuels a rate of population growth that is outpacing the countries ' efforts to meet the social needs of the citizens and achieve national development goals . By the mid - 1990s , population increase had outpaced economic gains and food production , leaving the average African 22 percent poorer than in 1975 ( UNFPA , 2000 ) . Helping people to prevent unintended pregnancies and births also reduces the need for households and government expenditures on such services as treatment of post abortion complications and care for maternal orphans while contributing to healthier families who can earn more and save more - a primary goal of poverty eradication plans and essential to economic development . Improving status of girls and women and ensuring the right of couples to freely determine the size and spacing of their families while providing them the means to do so is of prime importance nowadays . Unintended fertility locks girls and women into a cycle of early childbearing and poverty , and governments ' failure to address family planning needs ignores individual rights . Addressing the contraceptive use need and family planning , provides an opportunity for policymakers in all sectors to respond to the expressed fertility preferences of their populations while simultaneously improving health , slowing the rate of population growth , and contributing to achievement of national goals