‘Devastating’: UN agency slams seismic UK family planning aid cut

UN Population Fund says London has shrunk its support by 85 percent ‘at a time when inequalities are deepening’.

London, United Kingdom – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has denounced a decision by the United Kingdom to slash the level of funding it gives to the agency’s flagship family planning programme by 85 percent, saying the cut will have “devastating” consequences for millions of women and girls across the world. UNFPA said in a statement on Wednesday that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government had informed the sexual and reproductive health agency it intended to retreat on its initial pledge of £154m ($211m) for the programme this year, reducing its support to £23m ($32m) instead. The UK is the largest donor to the initiative, which provides contraceptives and maternal health care to millions of women and girls in the world’s poorest countries.