"They don't exactly talk about it in school": A field study about the effects of family planning programs on university students in Equatorial Guinea

Abstract

Family planning help individuals achieve their right to health and strengthen their independence. Despite effort to increase access to family planning methods worldwide, less than half of the demand for safe family planning method was met. This is a particularly urgent issue in Equatorial Guinea because both the demand and the fertility rate are among the highest in sub-Sahara Africa. The research focuses on the views and motivation of family planning among university students in Equatorial Guinea, to see if these views has affected their life choices regarding their reproductive behavior. A survey with 86 respondents and ten semi-structured interviews were conducted. The empiric data was analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics and a qualitative content text analysis. Moreover, the study explores how information, motivation and behavior skills affect students' behavior regarding the family planning implementation process. Findings showed that the students were positive towards family planning, but barriers such as the price, availability and misconceptions, made them doubtful about modern contraceptives. On the other hand, the students had a strong motivation to organize their lives and used traditional methods to control their reproductive behavior. Consequently, the thesis suggest that it is of high importance to continue implementing family planning in the society to increase knowledge level and access to contraception. However, at this stage of development not only modern contraception should be promoted but also the traditional methods.