Special Issue: Family Planning

CONTENTS Family planning as a critical component of sustainable global development Babatunde Osotimehin 1 Meeting demand for family planning within a generation: prospects and implications at country level Trends in contraceptive use and distribution of births with demographic risk factors in Ethiopia: a sub-national analysis Potential confounding in the association between short birth intervals and increased neonatal, infant, and child mortality Jamie Perin and Neff Walker 74 [The Countdown to 2015 for Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival (''Countdown'') aims to improve accountability for the health of women and children. Since 2005, Countdown has tracked national-level coverage estimates for interventions of proven effectiveness in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH&N) in the 75 countries that together account for over 95% of all maternal and child deaths. Countdown publishes these estimates regularly in country profiles that also include indicators of health systems and policies, financial flows to RMNCAH&N and equity. Summary analyses are conducted to support these reports and as the basis for scientific publications. More information on Countdown objectives, activities and products is available at http://www.countdown2015mnch.org/. This special issue on family planning is supported by the Countdown Coverage Technical Working Group, as a part of its program of secondary analysis of household survey data on coverage indicators in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH) drawing on resources provided by I n September 2015, under the leadership of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, the international community took a huge step forward for people, the planet, and prosperity with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) pave a brave path towards a world of equity and inclusion, health, including sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, education, and greater equality (1). Over the 1990Á2015 timeframe of the Millennium Development Goals and, particularly since the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, considerable progress has been made in women's sexual and reproductive health, including increases in contraceptive use globally, expanded access to skilled maternity care, and the reduction of new HIV infections and maternal and newborn deaths. The secretary-general's 'Every Woman Every Child' strategy (2) has catalysed increased leadership and commitment from governments and strong support from all partners, including United Nations agencies, non-governmental organisations, foundations, academia and professional associations. Behind the positive global trends, however, lie significant differences among and within countries. For example, around 225 million women in …