AbstractToday's population in South Asia is estimated at 1.2 billion. With an average annual growth of 2%, it increases by more than 24 million people each year, the highest increment in the world. Despite recent improvements in the contraceptive prevalence rate, all countries in the region experience high levels of unmet need for contraception, Several of the region's characteristics have a bearing on the challenge of promoting and providing family planning services: women's status is particularly low; the persistence of son preference results in higher female than male mortality at all ages; the young age structure means an increasing number of people entering childbearing ages. Being predominantly rural, the region experiences shortages of trained health personnel as well as major problems of accessibility to basic health services.