Walk the Talk: The Unfinished and Urgent Task of Revising Top-Line Family Planning Indicators, 30 Years After ICPD

Abstract / Summary

The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development transformed the family planning (FP) field. Yet, three decades later, global FP monitoring remains anchored in the same core indicators: contraceptive use, unmet need, and demand satisfied. Despite decades of well-established critique, these measures have seen little substantive revision. As the global community looks to 2030 and beyond, a coordinated effort is urgently needed to develop a revised set of easily interpretable, top-line FP indicators. Leveraging recent momentum around advances in FP and contraceptive measurement, this effort must be intentional and focused—ensuring that new indicators better reflect the values and priorities of the field—and should be guided by principles of simplicity, validity, directionality, and universal applicability. Without action, the FP community risks continued reliance on outdated measures or the adoption of impractical, unvalidated indicators, weakening future accountability for rights-based FP. We call on key stakeholders—FP advocates, donors, and global organizations—to prioritize and invest in the development and validation of robust new top-line FP indicators over the next three years, to ensure their integration into post-2030 global agenda setting.