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Sexual health and population dynamics
The German contribution to promoting sexual and reproductive health
Although the percentage growth rate of the global population is no longer as high as it was in the 1970s and 1980s, the number of people living on our planet increases by considerably more than 80 million each year. Population numbers in Africa and Asia in particular are set to continue to rise dramatically over the coming decades.
The growth in the global population poses a huge challenge for sustainable development – at national and global level. Beyond its significance as a human right, sexual and reproductive health is thus also an important precondition for sustainable population policy.
Germany’s development policy activities in this field are wide-ranging. They include: sex education and HIV prevention, family planning, prenatal and perinatal care, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, prevention of gender-specific violence, and action to eradicate female genital mutilation. The overarching principle applicable to all measures is that they be guided by human rights.
Since the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994 Germany has made available a total of more than one billion euros for improving reproductive health in developing countries. Most of this was channelled through bilateral cooperation. Some 50 German projects throughout the world are promoting population-related actions and sexual and reproductive health care services.
At the G8 summit in Muskoka in 2010 Germany pledged an additional 400 million euros towards maternal and child health. Germany is currently planning a "Self-determined Family Planning" initiative that will focus on sex education and cooperation with various actors.
German development cooperation is also actively involved in multilateral cooperation in this field. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are among Germany’s principal partners.
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