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The UNFPA released a report Monday stating that to facilitate family planning, even among the poor, contraceptives should be the right of every human.

According to a report released by the UNFPA, even poor women should be given the opportunity to decide whether they want children at a certain time or not. And to facilitate this, contraceptives should be made available to them.

The report titled "By choice, not by chance: family planning, human rights, and development", urges both developing and developed countries to take a firm stand on this, as it is an urgent and important issue.

"Family planning has a positive multiplier effect on development," said UNFPA executive director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin. "Not only does the ability for a couple to choose when and how many children to have help lift nations out of poverty, but it is also one of the most effective means of empowering women. Women who use contraception are generally healthier, better educated, more empowered in their households and communities and more economically productive. Women's increased labour-force participation boosts nations' economies."

To ensure that every person's right to family planning is realized, the report also calls on governments and leaders to:

• Take or reinforce a rights-based approach to family planning
• Secure an emphasis on family planning in the global sustainable development agenda that will follow the Millennium Development Goals in 2015
• Ensure equality by focusing on specific excluded groups
• Raise the funds to invest fully in family planning.

"Family planning is not a privilege, but a right. Yet, too many women-and men-are denied this human right," said Dr. Osotimehin. "The pledge we made in July in London to increase access to family planning will improve the lives of millions and will each year help avert 200,000 maternal deaths. As we approach the target date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, I call on all leaders to build on this momentum, close the funding gap, and make voluntary family planning a development priority."