Olivar Birungi, with her baby in the home she shares with 2 other women, participated in a meeting to discuss the risks of HIV/AIDS in Bughoye, western Uganda. In sub-Saharan Africa, almost a quarter of women lack access to family planning. Photo courtesy of Ami Vitale/CARE.

The Population Program has two goals: to enhance and protect the reproductive health and rights of individuals and to stabilize global populations in ways that promote social and economic well-being and sustain the environment. The Population Program is dedicated to promoting voluntary family planning and good reproductive health for all because of the benefits to individuals, societies, and the entire global community.

Our work includes helping women and their families choose the number and spacing of their children, preventing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, and eliminating unsafe abortion. Over the past fifty years, better family planning and reproductive health have improved countless lives in many places, but much work remains to extend their benefits to all. In collaboration with other Foundation programs, the Population Program also supports related work to improve quality education in developing countries.

Population issues were among the first William and Flora Hewlett considered when they began started their foundation more than forty years ago. They made two grants in 1967, one to Planned Parenthood Federation of America and one to Planned Parenthood Association of San Francisco. Since that time, the Hewlett Foundation's Population Program has awarded more than $470 million worldwide.