ISTANBUL, 17 April 2024 – Thirty years after the international community agreed on an ambitious programme to put people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights at the heart of global development, massive inequalities persist and millions of people, generally among the most disadvantaged population groups, remain excluded from the significant progress recorded overall across all world regions.

State World Population Report 2024 - Ending inequalities in sexual and reproductive health and rights Celebrating 30 years of progress Who has been left out? Weaving a path forward

"I always dreamed of having my own family,” said Sashka Smilkova. “But the family didn’t think I could get pregnant because of my disability. They even thought I might die giving birth." Ms. Smilkova, 35, from Kratovo, a small town in eastern North Macedonia, is deaf and has a severe spinal deformity. In 2019, she found out she was pregnant. "When I found out I was pregnant, everyone in the family tol...