Press release: London Summit on Family Planning

London Summit on Family Planning, 11 July 2012, results in commitments to reach an additional 120 million women with voluntary family planning services by 2020.

An additional 120 million women and girls in the world’s poorest countries will have access to voluntary family planning services by 2020 thanks to a new set of commitments announced today by more than 150 leaders from donor and developing countries, international agencies, civil society, foundations and the private sector made at the London Summit on Family Planning, co-hosted by the UK Government’s Department for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Summit showcased innovative partnerships and leadership at the country level, empowering women to reach their full potential and underscored the importance of access to contraceptives as both a right and a transformational health and development priority.

According to UK Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, “This is a breakthrough for the world's poorest girls and women which will transform lives, now and for generations to come.…Enabling an additional 120 million women in the world’s poorest countries to access and use contraception, something women in the developed world take for granted, will save millions of lives and enable girls and women to determine their own futures.”

Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said: “When I travel and talk to women around the world they tell me that access to contraceptives can often be the difference between life and death. Today is about listening to their voices, about meeting their aspirations, and giving them the power to create a better life for themselves and their families.”

The Summit raised the resources to deliver contraceptives to an additional 120 million women at an estimated cost of $4.3 billion. While donors made new financial commitments to support these plans amounting to $2.6 billion, which exceeded the Summit’s financial goal, more than 20 developing countries made bold commitments to address the policy, financing and delivery barriers to women accessing contraceptive information, services and supplies.

For more information, including donor and private sector commitments and the Summit webcast, see London Summit on Family Planning.