Amidst a prevailing right-wing shift across Europe, pushback against gender equality and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), and new humanitarian crises adding up to existing underfunded crises, 2023 has been a challenging year for international cooperation – and the final picture is mixed.
Funding for SRHR represents a small share of donors‘ total Official Development Assistance (ODA) – the latest data show that in 2021, European donors allocated between 0.8% and 7,5% of their ODA to SRHR. Most European countries are yet to achieve the United Nations’ target of raising the ODA level to 0.7% of their gross national income. However, UNFPA has estimated that to safeguard universal access to contraceptive care alone, a total investment of 65.1 billion Euros will be needed between 2020-2030. Instead, only 8.1 billion Euros are expected to be provided by donor countries. The 2023 UN Gender Snapshot underlines the need to “prioritize policies and programs aimed at closing gender gaps and empowering women and girls in development financing”.
This article presents an overview of the latest developments in European SRHR funding, policies and programming in the context of international cooperation in 2023.
Increased financing for SRHR
In 2023, some European countries announced increased funding for SRHR in international cooperation. Denmark and the UK allocated extra funding to supporting SRHR in the context of fighting climate change. Denmark invested an additional 10 million DKK for SRHR funding compared to 2022, while the UK pledged to allocate £20 million over 5 years (2025-2030) in the Global Financing Facility (GFF) specifically to tackle the interlinkages between SRHR and climate change.
Other countries renewed their multilateral support for UN agencies to enhance access to SRHR services and supplies worldwide. In June, Sweden announced an additional $42 million investment in SRHR in East and Southern Africa to four UN agencies as part of its 2022-2026 Strategy for SRHR in Africa. Ireland increased its funding to the UNFPA – with an addition of half a million euros to UNFPA core funding and €5 million euros towards various regional projects. The UK allocated £200 million for the SRHR “Women’s Integrated Sexual Health” (WISH) 2 Dividend Program to “provide a comprehensive package of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights across Africa and Asia”.
Access to affordable, needs-based services can’t be achieved without the involvement and financial support of grassroots CSOs delivering SRHR services, as they are key actors in reaching the most underserved communities, in all areas and contexts. At the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, France, through its Foreign Affairs Minister, announced a five-year renewal for the Support Fund to Feminist Organizations (FSOF), amounting to €250 million, and the European Commission together with UN Women announced a €22 million program, “ACT – Advocacy, Coalition Building and Transformative Feminist Action to End Violence against Women” to provide direct support to feminist associations and networks.
Investing in research to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is also crucial. At the UN General Assembly (UNGA), the UK International Development Minister announced funding for global health, with £120 million for health research to reduce maternal, neonatal, and child mortality in low- and middle-income countries.
Political and programmatic prioritization of SRHR
The adoption of multiannual strategies and policy frameworks which include SRHR are instrumental. In March 2023, France adopted its new SRHR international strategy 2023-2027, making SRHR a cornerstone of French feminist diplomacy, along with promoting equality and bodily autonomy. The UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) released its International Women and Girls Strategy in March, prioritizing issues like CSE and SRHR in emergencies. The Netherlands adopted a new Global Health Strategy 2023-2030, titled ‘Working Together for Health Worldwide,’ highlighting improved access to primary healthcare and SRHR as a crucial point. In October, Norway adopted a new Action Plan on Gender Equality in Foreign Affairs and Development cooperation, with SRHR as the top priority and strong language on bodily autonomy, gender equality and sexual rights, as well as Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) and harmful practices.
SRHR and gender equality are key to upholding human rights, health, and sustainable development within international cooperation. Therefore, they need to be at the core of European donor countries and the European Union’ external policy. The European Union (EU) took steps in embedding SRHR through new agreements and bilaterally funded programs. In November, the EU signed The Samoa Agreements – or Post Cotonou Agreements with the Members of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS). The agreement includes strong provisions on SRHR, Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), and combating Gender Based Violence (GBV). Meanwhile, the latest Countdown 2030 Europe report on the EU’s bilateral funding allocation in partner countries showed that 24 European Union Delegations included and implemented programs to support SRHR.
To ensure that SRHR is prioritized at global level, European countries have also pushed to include this issue within political resolutions and declarations at multilateral level within UN spaces. In November, a resolution on human rights defenders proposed by Norway was unanimously adopted in the third committee at the UNGA. The resolution included specific reference to SRHR defenders and the particular risk of women human rights defenders working on this topic. Considering the global threat towards women’s and girls’ rights, initiatives to counter opposition and to protect women human rights defenders are essential. At the UNGA, 60 governments signed a new Political Declaration of the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage reasserting existing language on SRHR and adding items on gender and teenage pregnancy. However, there were omissions within the declaration, including quality, integrated, and comprehensive health care services, access to CSE, the importance of bodily autonomy, and ensuring lifesaving SRHR care in humanitarian settings.
Threats to SRHR in international development and cooperation
As outlined in a previous article, a recession in Official Development Assistance (ODA) budgets may result in SRHR being sidelined. The war in Ukraine also indirectly affects the world population, as it intensifies a global food and energy emergency, already pressured by climate change, and pushing up inflation to unseen levels in decades. While some European countries have reasserted their commitments to SRHR in their international cooperation policy frameworks, stating that SRHR funding should remain the same, there still are concerns about whether the situation will ultimately remain unchanged. In several countries, a significant portion of ODA funding is spent to cover refugee costs. Funding to meet the needs of refugees is crucial but should not be counted as part of ODA when used in the host country. Most importantly, it should be additional funding and not come at the expense of international cooperation funding. In Finland, multilateral ODA faces a 10% reduction. And Sweden has withdrawn from the goal of reaching an ODA of 1% of gross national income (GNI). For the second year in a row, the Norwegian Government proposed a state budget with an ODA expenditure below 1% of GNI.
The UK ODA cuts, and consequent SRHR funding decrease continue to leave a big funding gap having a negative impact on the most marginalized, with multiple predicted risks on the lives of women and girls across Africa. Despite announcing new strategies and funding for women and girls, the FCDO falls short by not returning to spending on SRHR to pre-cut ODA levels.
Anti-rights actors are gaining ground in the field of international cooperation. Thirty-five countries did not sign the EU-ACP agreement, notably after anti-choice and LGBT-phobic campaigns. The 56th Session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD), focusing on “Population, Education, and Sustainable Development” concluded without the adoption of an outcome document. Intense opposition was expressed over “language pertaining to comprehensive education on human sexuality” when it was previously adopted by the Commission in 2014. This event laid bare the need to complement advocacy efforts with scaled-up more proactive responses against the new opposition tactics.
Navigating SRHR funding in 2023 reveals positive steps taken by some European donor countries for funding and programming SRHR. However, ODA reductions and anti-rights campaigns pose significant threats. It is essential for all states to assert their commitment to SRHR through robust political stances and substantial funding, prioritizing the most marginalized populations globally and working hand in hand with women human rights defenders and grassroot organizations. This is a critical moment for European states to translate commitment into impactful measures, promoting equality and helping to create a context where all women and girls can regain power and autonomy.
Written by Sawsane Djazouli, from IPPF EN
Illustration by Burcu Köleli
