WB Urged to Increase Reproductive Health Funding

World Bank Urged to Increase Reproductive Health Funding

Radio VOP, HARARE, June 17 2009 - Thirty-three civil organisations from across the world, including a Zimbabwean organisation, have urged the World bank to increase funding for reproductive health and HIV/AIDS in developing countries where the bank manages investments and development projects.

This follows a demonstration by Gender Action, the only organization dedicated to monitoring International Financial Institution (IFI) investments for their gender impacts, that the World Bank’s funding for reproductive health and HIV/AIDS projects during 2000-2007 constituted less than one percent of total World Bank spending during this period.

"Gender Action’s research also reveals a lack of gender sensitivity in World Bank reproductive health and HIV/AIDS investments, despite its public commitments to promote gender equality and the critical importance of addressing gender roles in these issues," said the organisation in statement.

It noted that bank policies and practices routinely undermine progress toward achieving reproductive health and HIV/AIDS Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

"Health sector privatization and user fees resulting from Bank loan requirements and recommendations to governments, for example, make reproductive health and HIV/AIDS services unaffordable to the poor.

"The Bank’s own 2009 Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) report evaluating Bank support for Health, Nutrition, and Population (HNP) since 1997 reveals weak Bank performance in ensuring projects improve health outcomes for the poor, despite Bank goals to reduce poverty and foster sustainable development.

According to the report, few projects with pro-poor or equity objectives were successful.

"The report demonstrates that about two-thirds of HNP projects overall - but only a quarter of HNP projects in Africa - have had satisfactory outcomes.

"We are encouraged to see an increase in Bank lending to HIV/AIDS over the last decade, which is attributable to a boost in multisectoral projects addressing HIV/AIDS. However, World Bank lending to reduce high fertility and improve family planning lags behind.

The organiations urged the bank as it triples its HNP funding, including funding for reproductive health and HIV/AIDS projects, to USd3 billion in 2009 from USd1 billion in 2008, to increase spending on sexual and reproductive health programs, particularly to reduce maternal mortality and ensure women’s access to family planning services, safe abortion and safe prenatal and post-natal healthcare.

"Expand support for combating HIV/AIDS in low-income countries with high HIV prevalence, particularly programs targeting prevention and access to antiretroviral treatment (ART). Design gender sensitive reproductive health and HIV/AIDS projects through systemic gender analysis of project design, implementation and evaluation.

"End harmful loan conditionalities, such as privatization of health services, which impede poor people’s access to high quality family planning, reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS services in developing countries and intensify efforts to improve the performance of the HNP project portfolio as recommended by the above-mentioned 2008 IEG report,".