For Immediate Release:	July 16, 2008
For More Information:	Tyler LePard, Population Action International, TLePard@popact.org, 202.557.3422 After 5:00 pm: 202.468.3635
Sponsor Organization:	Population Action International
House of Representatives Takes Major Step Forward in Addressing the Family Planning Needs of Millions of Women and Couples in Poor, Developing Nations
Washington, DC, July 16 -- With the State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee’s approval today of the fiscal year 2009 foreign assistance bill, the House of Representatives has taken a major step forward in addressing the family planning needs of millions of women and couples in poor, developing nations. The $600 million allocated for international family planning and reproductive health programs is the largest total amount ever provided by the United States for family planning programs (not accounting for inflation) and the largest one-year dollar increase in these programs on record. It marks a 28 percent increase above current (FY 2008) levels and an 83 percent increase above the President’s request. “You can’t read the newspaper lately without coming across an article that touches upon the importance of family planning and population issues” noted Amy Coen (President and CEO of PAI). “From skyrocketing food prices and global warming to unspeakably high maternal death rates in sub-Saharan Africa, the importance of investing in family planning programs has never been greater. We are incredibly heartened by the House’s action and very grateful to Chairwoman Nita Lowey for these investments in improving the health and livelihoods of women and their children – and fostering a more sustainable future for our planet.” The funding level approved today for fiscal year 2009 marks a much-needed reversal in several years of U.S. funding declines for family planning (FP)/reproductive health (RH) programs. Specifically, the bill provides an overall funding level of $600 million for family planning and reproductive health programs. Most of this assistance is for bilateral programs administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which provides FP assistance in more than 50 countries. Of the overall total, $60 million is earmarked for the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), which provides critical FP/RH care in more than 150 countries. Since 2002, the Bush Administration has withheld all U.S. funding for UNFPA, totaling more than $230 million. A provision included in the bill would allow U.S. funds to be provided to UNPFA and direct this assistance only to targeted projects such as safe child birth and emergency obstetric care, contraceptives to prevent unintended pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, and the provision of maternal health services in disaster areas. Family planning and modern contraceptives still remain out of reach for hundreds of millions of women and men. In fact, more than 200 million women in poor and developing countries want to space or end childbearing but are not using modern contraception. In some countries such as Haiti, Pakistan, and Uganda, this represents more than one-third of married couples. Just last week, a new World Bank report found that 51 million unintended pregnancies in developing countries occur every year to women not using contraception. Read the report “Deprived of Contraception, Poor Women in Developing World Bear Millions of Unintended Pregnancies” at http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21835941~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html /> Despite the large unmet need for FP, U.S. leadership and financial assistance for these programs has waned in recent years. Since 1995 U.S. government investments in family planning programs have declined by $100 million (40 percent when accounting for inflation), despite the fact that the number of women of reproductive age in the developing world has increased by over 300 million in that time. Had it not been for family planning supporters in Congress, this decline in funding for international family planning programs would have been far greater due to proposed cuts by the Bush Administration. For example, the President’s FY 2009 budget request proposed a funding level of only $327 million, a massive $134 million (29 percent) cut from current levels. ### Population Action International (PAI) works to ensure a world in which humanity and the natural environment exist in balance, fewer people live in poverty, and every person has the right and access to sexual and reproductive health.