2011 Family Planning Budget Request Largest Ever

Washington, March 5, 2010 -- Funding for family planning and reproductive health in the fiscal year 2010 budget was made public today with the release of the congressional budget justification document for foreign assistance. It demonstrates that the U.S. is back as an international leader on family planning and reproductive health issues.

The Obama administration is proposing $715.7 million for bilateral and multilateral international family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) assistance — a 10 percent increase above the $648.5 million that Congress appropriated in FY 2010 in the omnibus spending bill.

If Congress approves the spending, it would represent the largest amount of funding for international FP/RH programs—not accounting for inflation—ever approved.

Of the $716 million requested, $50 million is proposed for a U.S. contribution to UNFPA, the U.N. Population Fund, which provides critical FP/RH care in more than 150 countries. The remaining $666 million is for bilateral programs administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development(USAID), which provides family planning assistance in more than 50 countries.

For more information, go to: Population Action International, U.S. Policies & Funding Washington Memo.

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