Last week marked a real victory for women. At the London Summit on Family Planning, donors made significant financial commitments to expanding family planning to some of the most impoverished women and girls in the world. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK government and a host of other donors—many of them developing countries themselves—pledged $4.6 billion to the effort. These funds are projected to give an additional 120 million women access to lifesaving contraception, allowing them to choose if they would like to have children, when and how many. This landmark commitment may be a major leap forward for women’s health and rights—and economic progress as well.
Yet somewhat missing from the conversation was a clear recognition of the dire need for family planning and reproductive health care in countries that are affected by humanitarian crisis.
Read the full blog on TrustLaw (Thomson Reuters Foundation)