Canada’s support for sexual and reproductive health and rights

Canada remains committed to providing support for the full range of sexual and reproductive health services and information, including access to safe and legal abortions and post-abortion care.

Canada’s announcement of funding of up to $20 million at the She Decides conference will support five international organizations in providing critical sexual and reproductive health services and information and advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

The organizations, and the new funding for them, follow.

International Planned Parenthood Federation (up to $4 million, fiscal year 2017 to 2018)

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) provides comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services (including safe abortion), as well as advocating for policy and legislative change, through its federation of 152 member associations working in 172 countries. In 2015, IPPF provided $175.3 million sexual and reproductive health services, including safe and legal abortions.

Population Services International (up to $4 million, fiscal year 2017 to 2018)

Population Services International (PSI) strengthens health systems in developing countries by enhancing the role of the private sector in service delivery and behavioural change. PSI supplies medications and trains providers to give women safe, comprehensive medical abortion care and contraceptive services and provide post-abortion contraception and counselling. In 2016, PSI saved the lives of more than 15,000 mothers, prevented more than 5.5 million unintended pregnancies and stopped more than 250,000 new HIV infections.

Marie Stopes International (up to $4 million, fiscal year 2017 to 2018)

Marie Stopes International (MSI) provides contraception and safe abortion and post-abortion care, where legal, in 37 countries. It uses innovative social marketing and outreach clinics, as well as social franchising approaches. Since 2010, nearly 21 million women and their partners have used a form of contraception provided by MSI, and in 2015, MSI provided 3.4 million safe abortion and post-abortion care services.

United Nations Population Fund’s UNFPA Supplies (up to $5 million, fiscal year 2017 to 2018)

UNFPA Supplies, a thematic trust fund of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), provides 42 percent of all contraceptives procured by donors on behalf of developing countries and is pivotal to the achievement of the London Summit on Family Planning goal of enabling 120 million more women and girls to have access to contraceptives by 2020. In 2015, UNFPA Supplies helped 18 million women in more than 46 countries access modern contraceptives and reproductive health services.

Ipas (up to $3 million, fiscal year 2017 to 2018)

Ipas is a global non-governmental organization dedicated to ending preventable deaths and disabilities resulting from unsafe abortion. Ipas is a global leader in safe-abortion capacity building for governments, NGOs and private health care providers. Millions of women around the world have benefited from Ipas’s support for improved service delivery, including safe and legal abortions, in health facilities—nearly half a million in 2014 alone.