Source · Select Committees · International Development Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Paragraph: 90
Access to sexual and reproductive health services is an essential element of healthcare, providing lifesaving...
Recommendation
Access to sexual and reproductive health services is an essential element of healthcare, providing lifesaving services to women and girls and empowering them to make choices about their futures. The FCDO should publish an assessment of the effectiveness of current UK-funded programmes on the provision of sexual and reproductive health services in developing countries and should ringfence funding for the provision of reversable contraception to women and girls. It should also explicitly integrate the pledge to end preventable deaths of mothers, new-borns and children by 2030 into the list of global challenges in its new Strategic Framework for UK ODA.
Paragraph Reference:
90
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
We regularly review all UK-funded programmes, including sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes, and make annual reviews available publicly via the Development Tracker website. FCDO takes an integrated approach to our programming on sexual and reproductive health and rights in order to meet a wide range of women’s reproductive health needs— for example providing a woman with holistic care for gender-based violence, HIV, post-abortion care and family planning. Ringfencing funding for specific contraceptive methods could provide unnecessary limitations of choice for women and decrease integration between services. Our approach is evidence-based and seeks to give women Eighth Special Report of Session 2019–21 19 control over their own bodies and lives. Our investment in sexual and reproductive health and rights includes programmes that aim to increase access to quality voluntary family planning information, services and supplies. Global health remains a strategic priority. As part of our approach to global health, we will build on our existing efforts to end the preventable deaths of mothers, new-born babies and children by 2030. The ODA strategic framework highlights the importance of transformative global health investments, greater international collaboration, and stronger health systems. These are all vital to our efforts to end preventable deaths.