News

In the context of the ‘Not Without FP Forum’, we organised a roundtable discussion on European donor support to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and family planning (FP) in the coming decade. With inputs from European and African decision-makers and civil society representatives, we discussed recent trends in donor funding. 

The period 2019-2020 was one of contrasts: on the one hand, 2019 broke new ground for overall European support to SRHR - in terms of funding, looking at donor trends by Countdown 2030 Europe (new data to be launched on January 25th) and the Donors Delivering for SRHR report; and in terms of new commitments and momentum, with the Nairobi ICPD+25 Summit in 2019, and the renewal of the FP2020 partnership this year. On the flip side, the Coronavirus that spread across the world in 2020 will most likely have a drastic impact on European Official Development Assistance (ODA), including for SRHR.

What are European donors’ perspectives on this, and how are these trends and events experienced by decision-makers in Africa? What is the role for civil society in ensuring data transparency and holding donors accountable for their commitments? And finally, in the context of different pledging platforms - with Nairobi and the new ‘FP2030’ - what is the role of European donors in the coming decade, and how can the FP space be used to advance SRHR more broadly?

Listen to the event here. 

MEET THE SPEAKERS

• Titta Maja, Deputy Director General for the Development Policy Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Finland - who will provide insights on the latest trends and developments in terms of donor support to SRHR, considering the challenging COVID-19 context, and how donors are looking at funding SRHR in the coming decade.
• Hon. Abdul Rashid Pelpuo, Member of Parliament from Ghana - who will shed light on how national policymakers in Ghana have tried to contribute to the further advancement of the ICPD agenda after Nairobi in the past year, and how European donors can streamline the relevance of its SRHR funding to fit the needs of the most vulnerable.
• Joshua Ongwae, International Programme Coordinator & Regional Team Lead at DSW from Kenya - who will provide a civil society perspective on budget accountability and the opportunities and challenges around SRHR and FP funding at national and subnational level in Kenya.
• Moderator Cecile Vernant, Head of EU office at DSW from Belgium, and part of the Countdown 2030 Europe Consortium - who will introduce the discussion by providing some background on how European civil society have tracked European donor’s contributions to SRHR and FP and the trends in donor funding.

Listen to the event here.
Organised by Countdown 2030 Europe, DSW and the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual & Reproductive Rights.