Gates foundation pledges additional $375 million for family planning at London summit

Record ID: 898978

  • Title: Gates foundation pledges additional $375 million for family planning at London summit
  • Date: 11th July 2017
  • Summary: DAKAR, SENEGAL (FILE - NOVEMBER 29, 2011) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF MARIE STOPES INTERNATIONAL CLINIC PEOPLE WALKING INTO CLINIC VARIOUS OF WOMAN RECEIVING CONTRACEPTIVES LOCAL RESIDENTS IN CONSULTATION ROOM FORM BEING FILLED IN LOCAL RESIDENTS IN CONSULTATION ROOM
  • Embargoed: 25th July 2017 14:42
  • Keywords: UK family planning contraception Melinda Gates Family Planning Summit UN Amina Mohammed
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / DAKAR, SENEGAL / MANILA, PHILIPPINES
  • City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / DAKAR, SENEGAL / MANILA, PHILIPPINES
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA0026P9WITJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Philanthropist Melinda Gates called for family planning to be a global priority on Tuesday (July 11) as she announced that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that she co-chairs will provide an additional $375 million of funding over the next four years.
    The foundation was co-hosting an international summit in London aimed at increasing access to contraceptives for adolescents, boosting family planning services in humanitarian crises and improving the supply and range of contraceptives available. The event is expected to raise at least $2.5 billion to expand access to contraception.
    The summit comes at a critical time, with U.S. President Donald Trump having said he will end funding to the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations agency which deals with family planning, sexual and reproductive health. His administration also reinstated a policy blocking U.S. funding to overseas groups that perform or provide information about abortion.
    Gates said she was "deeply troubled" by the proposed cuts. She said the foundation's additional funding pledge would not bridge the gap that policies led by Trump's administration could create but that the money would be used to help ensure the supply of contraceptives.
    Some 214 million women and girls in developing countries cannot get access to contraceptives, experts say. Meeting that need could help avert 67 million unintended pregnancies every year, thereby preventing the deaths of 76,000 women from pregnancy and childbirth related complications, they say.
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