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Since 1965, USAID's Family Planning Programs have provided people around the world with access to voluntary family planning services while promoting sustainable development. Voluntary family planning has health, economic, and social benefits:
USAID provides up to 40% of donor-contributed contraceptives to the developing world. Since USAID's inception, the average number of children per family in developing countries has gone from six to four. USAID has also helped provide family planning to over 100 million couples, maternal mortality rates have been cut in half, child mortality rates have decreased by one-third, and the rate of new HIV infections has decreased 15%. (1) USAID also assists non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other groups to link and integrate Population, Health and Environment (PHE) Projects in developing countries. These projects acknowledge and address the complex connections between humans, their health, and their environment. They assume that programming based on synergies between health, family planning, and the environment will yield better results in terms of efficiency and sustainability, than will similar programs pursued separately. U.S. support for international family planning programs in developing countries costs about $1.70 a year per U.S. citizen, however, due to restrictive U.S. policies like the Global Gag Rule, many programs do not receive the support they need to be effective in saving lives and protecting the environment. Increasing our investment in USAID family planning assistance programs would slow population growth, improve the health of women and families and take steps to ensure a sustainable future. Recent Legislative News The President's Fiscal Year 2008 budget request to Congress proposed a 25% cut to U.S. programs that promote family planning and reproductive health overseas. Despite the fact that maternal mortality remains high in many countries and more than 200 million women want, but cannot access, modern methods of family planning, the Administration's rationale for this cut is that "significant successes that have been achieved after 40 years of worldwide family planning efforts." At a time when the global community is taking a hard look at the causes and effects of climate change, cutting funding for these programs that not only improve women's quality of life, but also mitigate the effects population growth has on our shared environment, is a step in the wrong direction!
To improve the health of families and ensure a more sustainable environmental future, our policies and funding must support USAID voluntary family planning programs around the world. The Focus on Family Health Worldwide Act would authorize increased funds for family planning programs implemented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The bill also prioritizes funding to countries with crucial family planning and maternal and child health needs, where contraceptive shortages are expected, and to areas where high population growth rates and biological diversity intersect. Help mobilize grassroots support for this legislation!
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