Three countries boost family planning funding in ‘powerful shift from dependency’ in Africa after aid cuts | Global development
Several African governments are increasing funding for family planning programs as foreign aid cuts threaten decades of progress in reproductive health and access to birth control for millions of women and girls.
Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are the latest to announce increased budgets for family planning supplies and services.
More than 80% of donor funding for family planning comes from countries that have announced they are cutting their aid budgets, according to a report released last week by the FP2030 global partnership.
The United States was the largest country, accounting for 41% of the total between 2020 and 2024. Declining funding led to the closure of maternal and reproductive health services, with devastating consequences in countries that relied heavily on USAID. In September, the Guardian reported the death of a mother and her baby in Yemen after they were turned away by the nearest hospital, which had lost support from the USAID-funded UNFPA.
In low- and middle-income countries, 78 million women and girls do not have access to the contraception they want, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Its Adding It Up report, also published last week, says $14 billion (£11 billion) is needed to meet all the needs for contraceptive services in these countries.
“Funding cuts have exposed the fragility of donor-dependent health systems,” said Samukeliso Dube, executive director of FP2030. “Sustainable domestic financing is key to the way forward. We must redouble our efforts as a sector to focus country-led strategy and protect progress made. [Cuts] cannot define the next chapter of our movement.
“The energy we once felt feels like an emergency. Women can’t wait, the world can’t wait. Let’s be bold once again,” she said at the International Family Planning Conference in Bogotá, Colombia, last week.
Addressing the conference, Zambian Health Minister Elijah Julaki Muchima announced an increase in funding for family planning from $4.5 million (£3.4 million) in 2025 to $7.5 million (£5.7 million) in 2026. “Today we take a historic step in consolidating Zambia’s commitment. This is the most strategic investment in the human capital of our country. It is not just a program, it is a service rendered to the country.
Muchima said that since 2022, when the government launched its family planning program, maternal mortality has fallen from 252 per 100,000 live births to 187 per 100,000 in 2024. Neonatal mortality rates have also declined. The program funded 20,000 new health workers, mostly midwives.
“We discourage child marriage and teenage pregnancy. We want to keep girls in school – and finish college, and then encourage family planning, so if a woman gets pregnant, it’s a precious pregnancy. Every pregnancy that happens [in Zambia] must be sought,” he said.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Health and Child Protection, Douglas Mombeshora, said his government would spend an additional $2.25 million (£1.7 million) a year on contraceptives in 2026 and 2027. “Historically, Zimbabwe has received almost 39% of its resource needs. [from aid and donor funding] but we have noticed donor fatigue in recent years. We always value these partnerships but, recognizing the gap created by reduced funding, Zimbabwe has taken action.
The Zimbabwean government hopes to raise an extra $2 million (£1.5 million) a year through taxes on products such as alcohol and tobacco, to boost family planning services. Five percent of a new tax on data and airtime will also be donated to the program.
The DRC is moving from no budget for contraceptives to $5m (£3.8m) a year over the next four years. Micheline Ombae Kalama, Minister of Gender, Family and Children, said conflict, displacement and social norms make the provision of contraceptives in the DRC particularly difficult. “There is a very high level of unmet need among young people. »
UNFPA, which equates to funding $2 of supplies for every dollar a government invests, has signed agreements with 44 countries, up from eight in 2022; 35 of them are in Africa.
“These new commitments reflect a radical shift from dependence to ownership. Sustainable financing means countries taking charge of their own destiny and building systems that last,” said Diene Keita, the new director of UNFPA.
The U.S. government is currently negotiating new bilateral aid agreements, consistent with its “America First” global health strategy. Talks take place with foreign or finance ministers, without any input from NGOs or civil society.
