NGO Plans Free Contraceptives For 120m Women

A Non-Government Organisation, Global Leaders, is to provide 120 million women and girls in the world’s poorest countries voluntary family planning services by 2020.

This was contained in a communiqué at the end of a one-day London Summit on Family Planning organised by UK Government’s Department for International Development in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in London.

It stated that the contraceptives, estimated to cost 4.3 billion dollars, would be provided to women and girls in more than 20 developing countries.

It added that leaders and stakeholders at the summit pledged their commitment to addressing the policy, financing and removing barriers to women’s access to contraceptive information, services and supplies.

The statement added that donors also made new financial commitments to support these plans amounting to 2.6 billion dollars exceeding the Summit’s financial goal.

The statement also quoted UK’s Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell as saying that “This is a breakthrough for the world’s poorest girls and women who will transform lives, now and for generations to come.’’

Mitchell said the commitments made at the Summit would support the rights of women to determine freely, and for themselves, whether, when and how many children they have.

“Enabling an additional 120 million women in the world’s poorest countries to access and use contraceptives,  something women in the developed world take for granted, will save millions of lives and enable girls and women to determine their own futures,” he stated.

Also speaking, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said: “When I travel and talk to women around the world they tell me that access to contraceptives can often be the difference between life and death.

“Today it  is about listening to their voices, about meeting their aspirations, and giving them the power to create a better life for themselves and their families.’’