USAID working to meet family planning needs of women in DRC

Apr 23 2013

"More than 26 percent of married women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) want to avoid pregnancy but aren't using a modern method of family planning," Christopher Hook, program assistant for USAID's Office of Population and Reproductive Health, writes in the agency's "IMPACTblog," adding, "Furthermore, meeting this demand for family planning is not an easy task in the DRC, where deep-seated traditional and religious views exist around family size, gender roles and the use of contraception." He notes, "USAID programs have worked to meet the needs of women in the DRC by expanding access to a wide range of family planning choices from short term to long-acting reversible contraceptives and permanent methods," adding, "USAID has also identified the need to increase access to non-hormonal methods to increase options for women and couples" (4/19).