UN agency says UK to cut 85% in aid to UN family planning programme

The United Kingdom aims to cut about 85% in aid to a United Nations family planning programme in the world’s poorest nations, the U.N. sexual and reproductive health agency UNFPA said late on Wednesday, describing the step as “devastating”.

The UNFPA Supplies is the agency’s flagship programme for family planning.

“These cuts will be devastating for women and girls and their families across the world”, UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem said in a statement.

“With the now-withdrawn 130 million GBP (180 million USD), the UNFPA Supplies Partnership would have helped prevent around 250,000 maternal and child deaths, 14.6 million unintended pregnancies and 4.3 million unsafe abortions”, Kanem added.

The United Kingdom’s foreign office told Reuters on Wednesday that Britain will temporarily be reducing the amount it spends on aid due to the “seismic” impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the UK economy.

“We are working through what this means for individual programmes. Decisions will be announced in due course”, a foreign office representative said in an emailed statement.

“We will still spend more than £10 billion this year to fight poverty, tackle climate change and improve global health.”

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