Rwanda News Agency/Agence Rwandaise d'Information (Kigali)
14 December 2008
Kigali — Some twenty-seven per cent of people that require family planning are using different methods to control births, officials from the ministry of health said on Sunday.
Though the figures are very low, as Mr. Bikorimana Ferdinand from the Family Planning Unit put it, it indicates that Rwandan are increasing becoming aware of the need to control the number of kids they can have.
According to Government reports, Rwanda's population of some 9.4 million is set to double by 2020 at its current growth rate of 3.2% per year. Parents here are said to have an average of 6 children.
Some 60% of the population is under the age of 20 years. Gender imbalances are a noteworthy effect of the civil war: in the 20 - 44 age group, 54% are women and one-third of households are headed by females.
Government has also pointed out that there is a risk the country may not meet the UN Millennium Development Goal of controlling population growth.
Numerous methods including vasectomy are being use at health centres to help families plan births. Women are also increasingly using pills.
Records from Association Rwandaise pour le Bien Etre de la Famille (ARBEF) - a women support group show that during the first semester 2008, use of the pill was 33 percent the second most popular after the injection at 39 percent.
Some government's officials have proposed to make a policy of three children mandatory in each family. Districts have also been required to detail progress on the adoption of family planning in their annual development programs.
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