- New UK investment will help avert 14 million unintended pregnancies and prevent more than 35,000 maternal deaths
- Access to high-quality contraceptives and safe abortion products will be expanded for millions more women across 54 countries, including conflict zones
- Support will also expand access to innovative life-saving medicines for mothers and newborn babies
Millions of women and girls in some of the world’s poorest counties will gain greater choice over whether and when to become pregnant as a result of a new package of UK support announced today.
£254 million in UK funding will make voluntary family planning a possibility for more than 15 million women per year and could prevent 14 million unintended pregnancies and over 35,000 maternal deaths by 2028.
UK support will give women the choice of a full range of family planning products including condoms, pills, implants and coils, giving them greater control over their reproductive health.
It will also expand access to life-saving medicines for mothers and newborn babies, including novel blood measurement equipment that improves the early detection of post-partum haemorrhage and treatments proven to reduce severe bleeding by almost two thirds.
Kirsty McNeill, Minister for Development, said:
It is a scandal that women and girls are denied the fundamental right to make informed choices about their own body, free from coercion, discrimination and violence.
Every woman and girl should be able to make decisions about her own future. That choice can mean staying in school, finding work or surviving childbirth.
The funding I have announced today will help give millions more women and girls across the world autonomy over their bodies, control over their futures, and the chance to fulfil their full potential.
The funding will be delivered through the CHOICES programme – the UK’s largest investment in sexual and reproductive rights – and will see experts working with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) across more than 50 of the world’s poorest countries, including conflict zones.
Too many women still cannot get the contraception they want. An estimated 259 million women who wish to avoid or delay pregnancy are not using safe, modern methods.
As part of the UK’s modernised approach to development, the UK will work in partnership with national governments to transition away from donor funding and build sustainable health systems.
Diene Keita, UNFPA Executive Director, said:
We are deeply grateful to the United Kingdom for its steadfast partnership and leadership, and for standing firmly with women and girls at a time when it matters most.
This renewed commitment sends a powerful signal that women’s health and rights cannot wait. Through UNFPA and our partners, this generous investment will help millions more women access the contraceptives they need and ensure lifesaving medicines are available during pregnancy and childbirth.
That means more mothers can thrive, more girls can stay in school, and more women can freely decide their own futures and realize their full potential.
Caitlin Glover, CHAI Vice President of Women’s & Newborn Health said:
We have the tools to prevent most maternal and newborn deaths and unintended pregnancies. The challenge is that they do not reach the women and girls who need them.
The UK’s commitment will change that for millions.
CHAI is proud to partner with the UK government to ensure these critical products are routinely and sustainably available through country health systems.
Notes to Editors
-
Maternal deaths have fallen by 40% since 2000, however progress has been uneven with 70% of maternal deaths taking place in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most of these deaths are preventable if access to quality sexual and reproductive healthcare and medicines are provided.
-
CHOICES operates in more than 50 countries including Afghanistan, Chad, the Gambia, Malawi, Sudan, and Yemen. It focuses on countries which experience the highest rates of death in childbirth and the lowest rates of contraceptive use, as well as providing emergency support to countries facing humanitarian crises.
