Family Planning, Reproductive Health, and Progress Toward the Sustainable Development Goals: Reflections and Directions on the 30th Anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development

Investing in family planning and reproductive health—broadly defined as the services, policies, information, attitudes, practices, and commodities, including contraceptives, that help individuals achieve their fertility intentions—is integral to attaining many Sustainable Development Goals. On the 30th anniversary of the watershed International Conference on Population and Development, we reflect on recent influential shifts impacting family planning (FP) and the growing evidence base on the importance of investing in FP. We describe the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Pathways to Progress for Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2024–2030, a forward-leaning framework that guides USAID’s family planning and reproductive health programs to help realize a world where ongoing improvements to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) contribute to longer, healthier, and more prosperous lives for all. We also delineate the 3 evidence-based pathways to achieve that vision that operate at individual, systems, and societal levels: Individuals have accurate information, skills, and ability to take action to achieve the highest attainable levels of SRH across their lifetime. Health systems provide quality, accessible, and people-centered SRH care. Local communities, organizations, institutions, and governments create and foster social norms and policies that support individuals to make and act on their own SRH decisions, free from violence, coercion, and discrimination.