What Is 3 for 1?

Family planning—it gives women, men, and families new opportunities, better futures, and it reduces (1) hunger, (2) strife, and (3) strain on the environment. The best part? Family planning saves lives.

A striking 215 million women want to plan their families but lack access to contraception. What will it cost? One billion dollars—it sounds like a lot of money, but it's less than one-20th of 1% of the proposed 2010 federal budget. Sounds too good to be true, right? It's not, and we are on our way there. In March 2009, EngenderHealth began rallying support for Congress and President Obama to significantly increase funding for international family planning. And the 2010 budget approved by Congress calls for a 19% rise in spending on international family planning. While we still believe that a minimum U.S. investment of $1 billion is needed, we are moving in the right direction—making a difference in the lives of women, families, communities, and nations.

July 2010 Update:  The House of Representatives State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee approved a record-breaking $735 million for international family planning and reproductive health programs—a $20 million increase above President Obama’s request.  This represents a 58% increase in funding for international family planning over the past three fiscal years.  The Senate will consider their version of this bill later this summer.  Watch this space for further updates as the United States gets closer to the $1 billion that is needed to get us fully on track to meet the needs of the 215 million women worldwide who want to plan their families but still can’t.

History

The 2009 U.S. budget, approved by President Obama, called for spending $545 million on international family planning and reproductive health programs. This is 18% more than in 2008, but when adjusted for inflation, it's not much more than what we spent in 1974.

You read that correctly: 1974.

Meanwhile, millions of women and men in developing countries want to delay or limit births but lack access to contraception—and this demand is expected to grow 40% by 2050, as a record number of young people enter their reproductive years.

The United States is not the only country trying to address this. But right now we simply aren't pulling our weight, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

 

What does it mean for the United States to help improve access to family planning?
One man and one woman share their experiences:

Read about Priscilla, a Kenyan nurse who has become a champion for the IUD in her community, after using the method herself for many years.

Meet Farzeli, a Muslim cleric in Azerbaijan who leads weekly information sessions on family planning at his mosque.