Pathfinder International Celebrates New Commitments to Family Planning

"These new national commitments to family planning help keep the momentum of the London Summit alive." -Pathfinder Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives Sono AibeAddis Ababa, Ethiopia—This week, thousands of reproductive rights advocates convened at the International Conference on Family Planning to celebrate progress made toward the FP2020 commitments made at the London Summit on Family Planning in 2012. Five new countries—Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Mauritania, and Myanmar—announced national commitments to family planning, supporting the growing global consensus around the importance of reproductive health.

"These new national commitments to family planning help keep the momentum of the London Summit alive," said Pathfinder Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives Sono Aibe. "In Myanmar,  the new budget allocation to birth spacing and the government's continuing strong partnership with international NGOs to fill service gaps are signs that they are ready to accerelate progress towards the fulfillment of Myanmar's FP2020 commitments. These include expanding the health budget related to family planning, improving policy around provision of contraception, and implementing people-centered policies."

FP2020 mobilizes global policy, financing, and service delivery in efforts to reach an additional 120 million women and girls in the world's poorest countries with contraceptive information, services and supplies by 2020. Pathfinder International, a partner to FP2020, looks forward to working with closely with our global partners and national government to make our shared vision a reality. As Melinda Gates shared earlier this week, our vision is bold, but achievable.

The FP2020 Progress Report recognizes a number of successful initiatives supporting the goals of FP2020, including Pathfinder's work on youth-friendly services and peer education in Burkina Faso. Pathfinder is working closely with national governments and local partners throughout West Africa to build a evidence-based, scalable program for young married women in need of sexual and reproductive health information and services.

"As a partner to FP2020, Pathfinder applauds the progress made toward the goals set by the London Summit on Family Planning," said Pathfinder President and CEO Purnima Mane. "Still, we keep a careful eye on the future. Every day, hundreds of millions of women and girls are denied their rights. Denied access to contraception, giving birth when they are themselves children, and dying due to pregnancy-related complications. We can—and must—do more to advance sexual and reproductive rights for all."

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