1 over 30%
2 20% to 29%
3 10% to 19%
4 5% to 9%
5 less than 5%
1 Good vital registration
2 Alternative source
3 no nationally representative data

Unmet Need for Family Planning

What does it mean ?

This indicator is the percentage of women aged 15-49 (of reproductive age) in marital or consensual unions who do not want any more children or want to delay the birth of their next child for at least two years, but are not using contraception.

Why does it matter ?

Women who are able to practice family planning do better in terms of their socio-economic status, education, empowerment and health. The percentage of women who have an unmet need for family planning can tell us about the reach and quality of a country's healthcare system.

How is it collected ?

A national survey was undertaken in each country from a representative sample of households where women were asked if they would like more children, or to wait to become pregnant again, or have they finished childbearing. Those that could conceive were asked if they used contraception. A woman had an unmet need for contraception if she did not want any more children or wanted to delay her next birth for at least two years, but was not using contraception.

Millenium Development Goals Indicators, United Nations Statistics Division, http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Data.aspx UN STATS Millenium Development Indicator Database 2014 (most recent data 1996 – 2014)

Quality of data sources for maternal death (2015)

What does it mean ?

This indicator reflects coding for the source of maternal mortality data. As defined by the WHO, a value of '1' reflects good vital registration, '2' reflects other reliable source, and '3' reflects no nationally representative data.

Why does it matter ?

Part of the challenge in decreasing maternal mortality is accurately knowing when and where maternal deaths occur. This data is collected at the country level, with various sources of data between countries, including national vital registration, other reliable sources such as Demographic and Health Surveys, or no nationally representative data. This indicator reflects where such nationally representative data exist or don't exist. Until we know where all maternal deaths are occurring, we cannot make progress in reducing them.

How is it collected ?

These categories come from the World Health Organization's Trends in Maternal Mortality report. Group 1 indicates country estimates based on good civil registration data; Group 2 indicates modelled country estimates using available national data; and Group 3 indicates modelled country estimates where no national data are available on maternal mortality.

WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and World Bank (2014). Trends in Maternal Mortality 1990 – 2013