ABSTRACT
Achieving Goal 3 requires guaranteeing women's and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights. 1 Currently, their reproductive health status is poor, and their sexual and reproductive rights are not fully realized in many countries. Maternal mortality rates are high, and women's chances of dying of pregnancy-related complications are almost 50 times higher in developing countries than in developed countries. Women's unmet need for contraception is also high. One-fifth of married women in the Middle East and North Africa and one-quarter in Sub-Saharan Africa are unable to access the contraception they need. Women are also more vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections, particularly HIV/AIDS. Today, women and girls make up almost half the infected population ages 15–49 worldwide, and in Sub-Saharan Africa the rate is close to 60 percent. Adolescent girls are particularly disadvantaged in all of these aspects of sexual and reproductive health. Adolescent fertility rates remain high, and young women have higher chances of suffering from complications at birth. They also have a higher unmet need for contraception and higher HIV infection rates, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
