About the Population Council

The Population Council conducts research to address critical health and development issues. Our work allows couples to plan their families and chart their futures. We help people avoid HIV infection and access life-saving HIV services. And we empower girls to protect themselves and have a say in their own lives.

We conduct research and programs in more than 50 countries. Our New York headquarters supports a global network of offices in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

From its beginning, the Council has given voice and visibility to the world’s most vulnerable people. We increase awareness of the problems they face and offer evidence-based solutions.

In the developing world, governments and civil society organizations seek our help to understand and overcome obstacles to health and development. And we work in developed countries, where we use state-of-the-art biomedical science to develop new contraceptives and products to prevent the transmission of HIV.

Leadership

The Population Council is led by recognized experts in the population, health, and development fields. Our country directors lead the Council’s research and programs in the countries where we work. Our Board of Trustees—which includes leaders in biomedicine, business, social science, and philanthropy—oversees and guides the Council.

Capabilities

Since 1952, the Population Council has worked to confront critical health and development issues.

Together with NGO and government partners, our international staff identifies challenges, develops and tests innovative solutions, and scales up successful strategies.

The Council's capabilities include:

IMPLEMENTATION SCIENCE to identify service-delivery challenges and test solutions that improve family planning, reproductive health, HIV and AIDS services, and programs for adolescent girls;
POLICY RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS that provide data needed by national governments and international bodies to develop evidence-based health and development policies;
RESEARCH UTILIZATION to increase use of evidence by decision makers as they make critical choices about policies, programs and deployment of resources to achieve health and development goals;
DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS to document the significance of the link between population and development;
IMPACT EVALUATION to rigorously assess the effect of a given intervention, policy, or program;
BASIC BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH on new contraceptive and HIV-prevention compounds and delivery systems, as well as research to understand how HIV is transmitted sexually;
DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCTS that enable men and women to prevent pregnancy and protect themselves from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and disorders of the reproductive system;
CLINICAL TRIALS of promising products to determine their efficacy and safety; and
PRODUCT INTRODUCTION to ensure that technologies developed by the Council are available to the poorest and most vulnerable people worldwide.

Biomedical Research

The Population Council collaborates with pharmaceutical companies to develop, manufacture, and distribute contraceptives and other products to the global market. In keeping with the Council’s mission, these partnerships include provisions to ensure public-sector pricing.

Through its Center for Biomedical Research, the Council has developed and licensed some of the most widely used long-acting, reversible contraceptives in the world. Currently, 170 million women worldwide are using a highly effective contraceptive developed by the Population Council or based on our technology, including ParaGard® (the Copper T intrauterine); Mirena® (levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system); the implants Jadelle® and Norplant®; and most recently Annovera® contraceptive vaginal ring.

The Council has contraceptive, microbicide, and multipurpose prevention technology (MPTs) products in various stages of development. Learn more about our Products in Development.

Strategic Priorities

The Population Council’s Strategic Priorities Framework presents our vision for the road ahead.

For 65 years, the Population Council has conducted research and delivered solutions that address critical health and development issues and improve lives around the world.

Our work allows women and their partners to plan their families and chart their futures. We help people avoid HIV infection and access life-saving HIV services. And we empower girls to protect themselves and have a say in their own lives.

We conduct research and programs in more than 50 countries. Our New York headquarters supports a global network of offices in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

From its beginning, the Population Council has given voice and visibility to the world’s most vulnerable people. We increase awareness of the problems they face and offer evidence- based solutions.

We collaborate with governments and civil society organizations to understand and overcome obstacles to health and development. We partner with policymakers and donors to help inform global, national, and local policies with evidence. And we use state-of-the-art biomedical science to develop new contraceptives and prevention technologies to limit the transmission of HIV and other STIs.

Mission

The Population Council’s mission is to improve the well-being and reproductive health of current and future generations and to help achieve a humane, equitable, and sustainable balance between people and resources.

Values

The Population Council is guided by the following organizational values:

Respecting, protecting, and fulfilling human rights
Enhancing gender equality
Empowering vulnerable populations
Collaborating with partners around the world to develop research capacity and achieve our common mission
Ensuring that data and evidence are used to inform policies and programs to improve lives around the world
Adhering to legal, ethical, and prudent operational and risk-management practices in the performance of all activities.

Context

Adopted by 193 member states of the United Nations in September 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. Preceded by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Global Goals put the needs of women and girls front and center of the global development agenda.