About UNFPA

Who We Are

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, works to promote the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty. UNFPA’s vision is of a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV and AIDS, and every woman and girl is treated with dignity and respect.

UNFPA and the MDGs

UNFPA’s mandate is guided by the Millennium Development Goals, particularly MDG 5, which aims to improve maternal health and provide universal access to reproductive health services and information. Because the eight MDGs are interconnected and interdependent, UNFPAs’ work on population issues, reproductive health and women’s empowerment affects each of them.

Context of Our Work

UNFPA promotes the right of all individuals to develop their fullest potential. To exercise this right, all people, especially women and girls, need access to information and services on reproductive health, including family planning and sexual health, to enable them to make informed and voluntary choices and decisions.

How We Work

A strong emphasis on the human rights, including reproductive rights, of individual women, men, girls and boys underpins all of UNFPA's work and its way of working. UNFPA emphasizes the integration of culturally sensitive approaches into its programming efforts. UNFPA works closely within communities and with local agents of change, including religious leaders and faith-based organizations. This rights-based approach is the foundation upon which individuals, communities and societies can strive to fulfill their potentials to the fullest and eradicate poverty. UNFPA is fully committed to a more effective, coherent and better coordinated United Nations system that “delivers as one,” which is the essence of the United Nations reform process.