Global reach, global impact
The Population Council has been instrumental in improving people's lives. Our work includes research on education and livelihood opportunities for young girls and women.
The Population Council was founded in 1952 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd on the premise that "There is only one reason for concerning ourselves about population—to improve the quality of people's lives, to help make it possible for individuals everywhere to develop their full potential." Our commitment to this mission has never wavered.
We work to improve the health and well-being of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people, identifying challenges that have been previously been neglected. For more than 50 years, we have changed the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
- Our research on HIV and AIDS, poverty, gender, and youth, and reproductive health, and our inter-disciplinary approach enable the Council to tackle problems from a range of perspectives.
- With offices in 17 developing countries and projects in more than 50 countries, the Council tailors responses to local situations. We work with local partners to translate results into practice and scale up promising models for change.
- The Council collaborates with governments to shape policies and increase coverage and enhance the quality of population and health programs. We are also increasing the capacity of developing-country research and service organizations.
- Our biomedical laboratories have developed long-term, reversible contraceptives that have been used by more than 100 million women. The Council leads the field in research on new contraceptives.
Throughout our Web site, on topic, country, and project pages, we outline the impact of Council work. We invite you to read more about how our research is making a difference.
Voices of change
Photo of Ben Bellows: © Richard Lord
What's New
Schooling and Conflict in Darfur: A Snapshot of Basic Education Services for Displaced Children. The Population Council, in collaboration with the Women’s Refugee Commission, conducted a survey of basic educational services and facilities in North and West Darfur in 2008. Read about their findings in this report, forthcoming in March. To order a copy, contact publications@popcouncil.org
BMJ has announced the nominees for its prestigious annual award for "Getting Research into Practice." The Sexual Health and HIV Evidence into Practice (SHHEP) group—to which ABBA, a Population Council–led consortium, belongs—was nominated for successfully "advocating research findings to change the law in Ghana so that survivors of gender based and sexual violence are no longer forced to pay for their own medical tests to prove assault in court." Read more about this on page 6 of the linked PDF. (offsite link)
New statistics project more than five million fewer deaths from AIDS in 2030 than previously estimated. The Population Council's John Bongaarts and co-authors François Pelletier and Patrick Gerland address the cause and implications of the revised estimate in a recent article in The Lancet, "How many more AIDS deaths?" (more)
The Population Council applauds the US government’s renewed support and dedication to meeting the health and development goals laid out in the ICPD and other related UN agreements. (more)
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