Andris Piebalgs supports family planning
New support which will help to provide additional life-saving, affordable, contraceptive information, services, and supplies to women and girls in the world’s poorest countries was announced by EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, at a family planning summit.
The new €23 million package is part of the commitment confirmed at a family planning summit organised by the UK Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in partnership with UNFPA, partner country national governments, donors, civil society, the private sector and the research and development community. The European Commission pledge contributes to the summit's goal of providing family planning services to an additional 120 million women by 2020 in the poorest developing countries. Announcing the support, Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs said: "Helping to provide family planning services is one of the best investments that a country can make into its future. In today's world, all women must have the ability to choose the size of their families. It is about promoting gender equality and women's rights; but it is also about protecting maternal and child health."
Full version of the press release:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/12/759&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
