Latest figures show that levels of development assistance for Reproductive Health, Family Planning and HIV & AIDS (known as population assistance) are increasing. But the overall attention paid by Europe’s leaders to population issues is still painfully low, with all European donors allocating less than 10% of their development assistance to the issue. These findings are outlined in Euromapping 2012: the latest edition of the annual overview of Europe’s development assistance relating to population issues.
As the financial crisis rolls into its fifth year, the overall amount of money being pledged by the world’s richest economies to help the world’s poorest has not yet started to fall. However, donors in Europe are still far from meeting the pledges they made to devote 0.7% of their Gross National Income to Official Development Assistance by 2015. The current average among EU Member-States is 0.42%. For population assistance – development aid aimed at improving women’s reproductive health and rights, including responding to the HIV & AIDS epidemic – a similar small (yet inadequate) increase has been seen.
At a time when the new global development and sustainable development frameworks are being negotiated, the cross-cutting nature of population issues and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights must be recognised - and fully funded. This publication provides advocates and policymakers committed to safeguarding the reproductive health and rights of the world’s most vulnerable citizens with a powerful tool to achieve this. It also clearly illustrates the necessity for donors to report on their activities transparently and consistently, in order for beneficiaries, parliamentarians and civil society to understand what donors already contribute to these key sectors of human development and what is still needed.
