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Contraception and the right to choose when to have children are at the centre of reproductive health. Contraception use varies across the European Region. In some countries many women who need modern contraception do not get it. They may have to cope with poor services, difficult access, high cost, custom and other cultural factors.

WHO/Europe has given training courses on an evidence-based approach to family planning and the introduction and adaption of WHO guidelines. This was done in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network, the United States Agency for International development (USAID) and other organizations. In recent years these activities have taken place regionally but also in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Ukraine.

Family planning is one of five core aspects of the WHO global reproductive health strategy. Contraceptive prevalence and the unmet need for contraception are both used as indicators to measure progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.