Sign-on letter: FY20 International FP/ RH OMB Request
Dear Director Mulvaney:
The undersigned 52 organizations, committed to advancing the sexual and reproductive health and rights of people around the world, write to urge the President to request that the FY 2020 budget include $1.66 billion for international family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) programs, including $111 million for UNFPA, and reverse harmful policies that undermine these investments. Additional funds to support family planning and reproductive health programs ought to not come at the expense of other global health, development assistance, or humanitarian assistance programs.
We request $1.66 billion for Bilateral and Multilateral Family Planning and Reproductive Health Programs provided from the Global Health Programs account, the Economic Support Fund and from the International Organizations and Programs account, including $111 million for UNFPA.
The U.S. investment in FP/RH programs is critical to promoting the health and well-being of women and girls, young people, and families around the world and has the additional benefit of being cost-effective. For instance, every additional dollar spent on contraceptive services would save $2.22 in pregnancy related care. In FY2018, the U.S. invested $607.5 million in international FP/RH. This investment had a real impact on the lives of women and girls, with estimates indicating that these funds likely made the following possible:
- 25 million women and couples receive contraceptive services;
- 7.5 million unintended pregnancies averted;
- 3.2 million induced abortions averted (the majority of which provided in unsafe conditions); and
- 14,600 maternal deaths averted.