International Family Planning Funding Is a Necessity, not a Luxury

Blog It! Take Action Get Involved

My Sistahs - A webite by and for young women of color

Youth Resource - A website by and for lgbtq youth

Advocates for Youth - A website for parents, health professionals and educators

International Family Planning Funding Is a Necessity, not a Luxury

by:

Abbey824

Friday, July 3, 2009 at 1:51:00 PM EDT

Rating:

Recently, the UN and World Bank have expressed concern because family planning funding is falling off the radar of development aid in low-income countries.

“New preliminary figures from the World Bank show that official global development aid for health increased from $2.9 billion in 1995 to $14.1 billion in 2007, or roughly a five-fold increase in 12 years.

During the same period, aid for population and reproductive health made a more modest increase from $901 million to $1.9 billion.”

This is particularly worrying because need has been increasing, and because financial crisis-based cuts at the family planning/reproductive health budgets could make this gap more drastic.

The problem is not that family planning money is not effective towards helping women and girls, and therefore society in general, but because it is not seen as a “necessity” when it comes to development aid. However, the politicization of the issue and the view that women’s health is a secondary matter is deadly- literally. What the UN and World Bank are scared of is even more escalating rates of maternal mortality in the developing world because of lack of reproductive health services. And this will happen, unless reproductive health and family planning are seen as core parts of a society’s health and development.

The US is making steps towards raising our budget, and that is exciting- remind your Senators and Representatives today that international family planning funding is not about helping people have better sex lives (although it can)- it is about saving lives.

Comments (1)
Share this entry:

del.icio.us |

Facebook |

MySpace |

Digg It! |

Linking Blogs

Comments

[Add New Comment]

Thanks so much for the point you made here about international family planning. This clearly an issue that affects the lives of women and girls around the world. Neglecting family planning could truly be fatal because of its impact on maternal mortality, unsafe abortions and more importantly women's rights over their bodies. This is of course not even mentioning that family planning contraceptives like condoms prohibit the spread of HIV.

# Posted By

vanessaaishacoleman | 7/5/09 08:58 PM | Report | Reply

[Add New Comment]

<< July 2009 >>

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

My Weekend Building a Movement
By Mahayana
0 comments

Global Youth Service Day: "Tujijue" Expedition Camp 2010
By Pok
1 comments

Dear White House: Please add this to your website.
By allyouneedislove
2 comments

Goodbyes & Hellos
By Music_And_Musings
2 comments

Kenyan Men Arrested for Attempting Gay Marriage
By vanessaaishacoleman
1 comments

Phenomenally, Phenomenal Women
By elizabeth
1 comments

Commodity for Sale
By justifiable
1 comments

Utah: Prosecuting women is a “national model” for the anti-abortion movement
By AFY_Will
2 comments

Prom Cancelled Because a Girl Wanted to Bring Her Girlfriend
By RyAnYWOC
3 comments

Guest Post: The Fight for Sex Education in Utah
By Amplify_Staff
0 comments

Parents Gone Bad
By CP3
0 comments

Open Mic:"Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!"
By Exclusive1
2 comments

Black Pro-Lifers Say Abortion "Genocide"
By kirbygirl87
1 comments

Are you in the health proffession?Opportunity for you in kenya need you!
By kvcdp
0 comments

Become an engaged global citizen today by serving kenyan communities!
By kvcdp
0 comments

Start planning for your summer holidays with kenya volunteer opportunities
By kvcdp
0 comments

See kenya with hostelling international
By kvcdp
0 comments

Hostels & Campsites in Kenya
By kvcdp
0 comments

Do something different this summer break !
By kvcdp
0 comments

We are Looking for Global Volunteer Partners
By kvcdp
0 comments

My Weekend Building a Movement
By Mahayana
0 comments

question i hope is answered
By confused_190
3 comments

Own Your Number
By kathleenmysistahs
0 comments

Little Freak, Really??
By Reneex10
1 comments

Why Would Somebody Abandon Their Baby?
By lilraheem
1 comments

Abandoned Naked Baby Found in the Cold
By bigkev
1 comments

Baby Found in the Cold
By dstyles3
1 comments

A Married Disaster
By CP3
0 comments

Dedicated to Haiti
By NicoleSheri
0 comments

Abandoned New Born
By WillTheSpacekid
1 comments

Hey It's Nicole!!!
By NicoleSheri
2 comments

Lobbying in Springfield, Illinois - March 11-12, 2010 Experience with ICAH
By latinablueeyes
0 comments

Open Mic:"Something you probably didn't know..."
By Exclusive1
1 comments

The beging of My story (With REALLY bad grammar)
By Bella_Faye
3 comments

Global Youth Service Day: "Tujijue" Expedition Camp 2010
By Pok
1 comments

365 Gay
Akimbo
Daily Kos
F-Bomb
Feministe
Feministing
Huffington Post
Nuestra vido, Nuestra voz
Open Left
Pam's House Blend
Pandagon
Planned Parenthood
RH Reality Check
Scarleteen
Shakesville
SistersTalk

	Constance rules!
	This is why Congress has to pass the Student Non-Discrimination Act
	Hope isn’t lost -- look how many folks stepped up to hold a non-discriminatory prom!
	All of the above