Which innovations have had the greatest impact on population, human rights and global development? Technologies that empower choice

BIHAR, India - This week, leaders from around the world are convening at United Nations Headquarters in New York for an annual meeting to discuss progress in supporting human rights and development for people around the world.

This year, the meeting gives special attention to how technology and innovation can advance these goals. Information technologies, for example, enable open expression and allow for remote work, allowing for an instant exchange of ideas and labour across borders. Diagnostic and treatment advances have transformed human health, lengthening human lifespans and expanding human potential.

But of all the technologies that affect human rights, development and population, one of the most consequential is not new at all: family planning.

Family planning was recognized as a human right in 1969, and it was recognized as being essential to national development and human flourishing at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. Today, amid global backsliding in gender equality, it is worth reflecting on the power of family planning as a technology, an enabler of rights, and a right in itself.

The story of family planning in three generations

Saraswati Devi, in Bihar, India, was married at age 16 and had five children by the time she was 30. There was nothing unusual about this for women - and girls - in her village in the 1970s. "We didn't know about contraceptives back then. We didn't know how to delay or prevent pregnancies, and we were too afraid to ask."

In fact, large families were seen as a financial and health blessing, she explained to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. "My mother-in-law always said, 'The more children you have, the more hands there are to work in the fields.'"

Saraswati felt pressure from friends and family to keep growing her family. "When I wanted to stop having children, my mother-in-law insisted that I continue, and I could not disobey her."

If she could do it all over again, she would have fewer children, she said. "I wished for daughters, but I only had sons. It is good to have both. I love my children, but they are all busy with their own lives now."

Some things - but not everything - began to change when it came to the next generation.

Family planning information spreads

Saraswati's daughter-in-law, Anita Devi, married at 18 in the late 1990s. When health workers visited her village, she - unlike her mother-in-law - was offered family planning services and information on contraception.

"I initially wanted only one or two children, just one girl and one boy," she said. "We are poor, and raising a large family is difficult."

But even with contraception available, the choice was not entirely in Anita's hands. "Talking about family planning was not easy in my family, and my husband was against contraception."

Under pressure to give birth to a son, she became pregnant again. By the time she'd had her fourth daughter, she was especially reluctant to continue. Still, her choices did not carry as much weight in those days.

"My husband and mother-in-law wanted more children, especially a son. I felt exhausted, but I had little say in the matter," she said.

In the end, she had six children, and she loves them very much.

"Despite our struggles, I am happy with my family," said Anita. "All my children have received some education. I divide my time between working in the home and helping my husband on the farm."

But things would be different for her own daughters. For them, family planning would be paired with more gender-equal norms - a recipe for transformation.

Planning for a better life

Anita's daughter Pooja Kumari graduated from university before getting married at 22 and having her first child at 23. In the following three years, she used contraceptives, and at age 26 decided to have a second child.

Pooja learned about her reproductive rights and health through Raatri Chaupals, or nighttime community assemblies, where villagers gather to learn about issues from local health workers. These meetings boosted her confidence to have conversations with her husband about the number and timing of pregnancies.

"My husband and I have decided to have only two children," Pooja said. "We want to raise them well, provide them with a good education, and ensure a secure future for our family."

Pooja is part of a new generation of Indian women who now have not only the means, but also the power, to realize their fertility goals: "I want to give my children a better life, while also prioritizing my health. I can't do that if I have too many kids."

A future of rights and choices

When Saraswati was born, in 1960, women in India had about six children on average. Back then, fewer than 1 in 2 attended primary school. Today, women in India have about two children each, and more than nine in 10 girls complete primary school and move on to secondary education.

Increasingly, women in India are doctors, lawyers, parliamentarians and engineers, designing new generations of technologies - including family planning - to empower the next generation of people.

And they are not doing it alone. Men, too, benefit from family planning and women's empowerment, Pooja's story shows. "My husband supports my ambitions, and together, we are planning for a stable future," she told UNFPA.

A version of this story was originally published in the 2025 State of World Population report, The Real Fertility Crisis.