Speaking at the opening of the 41st session of the UN Commission on Population and Development (7-11 April,UN,New York), UNFPA Executive Director Dr Thoraya Obaid made extensive comments on the current status of resource mobilization for population and devlopment.

The following is extracted from her statement:

The good news is that donor assistance to population activities continues to increase. Once all data are in, donor assistance is expected to reach $8.1 billion in 2006. We estimate domestic resources in 2006 to be $23 billion. And we expect continued increases in donor and domestic resources in both 2007 and 2008.

Rising support to the ICPD Programme of Action is demonstrated by rising contributions to UNFPA and a widening donor base. In 2007, a record 182 donor countries provided voluntary contributions, including all countries in Africa and in Latin America and the Caribbean. This is a powerful symbol of the importance that Member States attach to the issues of population and development. And it attests to the commitment of less developed countries.

Despite their commitment, most less developed countries cannot mobilize sufficient resources to fund population, gender and reproductive health programmes. They continue to rely on donor countries. We see this clearly as countries embark on the 2010 round of censuses. This is the most expensive exercise in national statistics, and it is threatened by lack of financing. The need for increased resources to undertake censuses has been expressed to UNFPA by many countries to which we provide support.

As you know, censuses provide the data needed to guide development. And UNFPA is working with the United Nations Statistics Division and other partners on the 2010 census round. Solid data are also necessary for monitoring the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. This includes the new target, under MDG 5 to improve maternal health, of universal access to reproductive health by 2015.

Despite the central importance of data to development, it is important to note that resource mobilization continues to be dependent on a few key players. Population assistance originates with a few major donors and the majority of domestic resources are mobilized in a few large developing countries. This creates a situation that is far from optimal in terms of predictability, reliability and sustainability.

While the flow of resources for population assistance is on the rise, which is most welcome and I thank all governments for their contributions, I would like to caution that, even if estimates and projections hold and the financial targets are surpassed, the resources mobilized will not be sufficient to meet current needs, which have grown dramatically since the ICPD targets were agreed upon a decade and a half ago.

At that time, the population and health situation in the world was much different from what it is today. For one thing, no one had foreseen the escalation of the AIDS pandemic from 14 million people living with HIV in 1994 to 33 million people today. Since 1994, health-care costs have increased substantially, while the value of the dollar has gone down.

As a result, the ICPD financial target of $18.5 billion in 2005 is not sufficient to meet current developing-country needs in the areas of family planning, sexual and reproductive health, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS, and basic research, data and population and development policy analysis.

HIV/AIDS activities continue to receive by far the largest proportion of population assistance and funding for family planning lags far behind. In fact, donor assistance for family planning as a percentage of all population assistance has decreased considerably since Cairo, from 55 per cent in 1995 to 7 per cent in 2005. If not reversed, the lack of financing for family planning threatens efforts to reduce poverty, improve health and advance women?s empowerment.

The victims of this funding gap are poor women in poor countries who cannot exercise their reproductive rights and plan their families. It is a serious problem that needs to be urgently addressed. Today, there are 200 million women in the developing world with unmet need for effective contraception and the highest unmet need is in Africa. The result is increasing numbers of unwanted pregnancies, rising rates of unsafe abortion, and increased risks to the lives of women and children.

The benefits of reproductive health care, including family planning, cannot be overstated. We will not attain the Millennium Development Goals, especially MDG 5 on maternal health, if we do not ensure universal access to reproductive health. Sexual and reproductive health is essential to women?s empowerment and gender equality. Family planning is key to maternal and child health. It is estimated that ensuring access to family planning alone would reduce maternal deaths by 20 to 35 per cent and child deaths by 20 per cent.

One of the key messages here is that, if not reversed, the trend towards less funding for family planning and reproductive health will have serious implications for the ability of countries to address unmet need for such services and could undermine efforts to attain universal access to reproductive health by 2015. This in turn affects population dynamics and conditions for development, especially poverty reduction.