UK

Country Profile

The UK is one of the largest European donors of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and an active proponent of family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) within ODA. As the coalition government entered its second year in power, support to ODA and in particular to FP/RH remained strong.

The Department for International Development (DFID) has set itself targets for results on FP/RH: to save the lives of 50,000 women, enable 10 million more women to use modern methods of family planning and prevent more than 5 million unintended pregnancies.

A significant shift in attitude towards international development has also come through, with a greater focus on evidence-based interventions that prove value for money. There are some concerns that the emphasis on results-based programming could lead to neglect of the harder-to-measure components of RH and FP. There has also been some concern that the increase in commitment towards FP/RH might lead to a decrease in HIV/AIDS activities in Country Operational Plans. Work by the Countdown 2015 Europe UK partner is being done to support building a strong evidence base for FP/RH in its entirety, and to continue to promote integration.

Policy rhetoric on the UK’s support to FP/RH has been high in the past year. The UK partner of Countdown 2015 Europe is working closely with DFID counterparts to ensure that this policy rhetoric is translated into increased funding commitments. The UK has provided direct commodity procurement support for FP in some countries – for example, as part of a £30 million project in Uganda working with UNFPA. Other countries with specific FP projects include £11 million in Malawi through MSI, £6.5 million through DFID Tanzania, support for social marketing of FP in Ethiopia as well as FP projects in Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. DFID-funded projects in India, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and Burma also have significant reproductive, maternal and newborn health components.

Key Documents