Organisation

World Population Foundation (WPF) was founded in 1987 by a British couple Roy and Diana Brown. They wanted to establish a foundation focusing on the growth of the world population. The Netherlands had no such organisation unlike the United Kingdom. WPF’s main goal then was to push back the high birth rates aswell as the high rates of maternal and infant mortality, with the aim to decrease world poverty.

From 1987 until 1994 WPF was a small organisation mainly supported by donations from the founders and consultancy assignments. In 1994, WPF played an important role in the Dutch delegation of the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo. At this conference, the Cairo Programme of Action was adopted and it has been the foundation for WPF’s work ever since.

With the Cairo Programme of Action as its principle, WPF is, besides maternal and infant mortality, also dedicated to themes like self-determination and sexual health and reproductive rights. The foundation is convinced that attention for these themes and the improvement of services on these subjects will greatly contribute to the struggle to end world poverty. Therefore the WPF also fights for the implementation of these themes in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) that have to be reached in 2015.

It is estimated that even today 200 million couples have no access to the information and resources, including contraceptives, that they need to protect themselves against diseases and unwanted pregnancies. The consequences are enormous. Half of all pregnancies are unplanned. Every year more than 500,000 women die of complications in pregnancy and childbirth, more than 5 million people are infected with HIV and 3 million people die of AIDS. This situation is impeding the economic development of many countries in Asia and Africa.

WPF is striving for a world in which people have access to resources (condoms and other contraceptives) and sexuality education; a world without sexual abuse and discrimination.

WPF has programmes Asia and in Africa in the following countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Address:
World Population Foundation
Vinkenburgstraat 2 A
3512 AB Utrecht
T: +31 (0) 30 239 38 88
F: + 31 (0) 30 239 38 60
e-mail: office@wpf.org