This 80-page report highlights why governments and donors should invest now in research to help determine and implement the most effective and efficient ways to enable adolescents to access and use contraception. The long-term economic and health benefits of increasing access will far outweigh the costs.

The rationales for directing more funding to research and evaluation of adolescent contraceptive use are laid out, including its fit with other global health priorities, and the value new evidence can offer to targeting program expenditures in the most effective ways possible. Specific research needs are highlighted as priorities, including segmenting the market of adolescents, delving more deeply into promising interventions, and facilitating the translation of research into programs.