LATEST data from the Family Planning (FP2030) report indicates that in 2021, Zimbabwe spent a significant amount of money to support family planning, including commodity purchases, demand creation campaigns, investments in training and research, and service delivery.
By Michael Gwarisa
Data from the FP2030’s 2022 Measurement Report includes estimates for 59 countries and from amongst these, Zimbabwe is estimated to have spent US$$17,928,498 in 2021 making it one of the countries in East and Southern Africa (ESA) with the highest Family Planning domestic expenditures.
From the data presented in the report that was collected between 2019 and 2021, Kenya was leading in the ESA region with indications that they spent US$34,450,000 on Family Planning while Zimbabwe spent US$17,928,498 followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with US$11,451,878.
Madagascar spent US$3,405,906 in 2021 while Rwanda $3,650,132 in 2020, Malawi US$3,281,256 in 2020, Zambia $5,054,228 in 2019, Burundi US$2,502,913 in 2020, Lesotho spent US$1,707,490 in 2020, Tanzania $466,642 in 2020, and Uganda $419,158 in 2019.
This is our fifth year of reporting domestic expenditures at the country level, and the number of countries for which estimates are available have increased each year. This year’s table includes estimates for 59 countries, amounting to US$1.57 billion in spending,” said the FP2030.
The 59 countries that were recorded account for 91percent of modern method users in all low- and lower-middle-income countries. The largest amounts are reported by populous countries in Asia that fund much of their own programs. Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Pakistan together account for about 80 percent of the total. Government expenditure per modern method user ranges from nearly zero to over US$100, with an average of about US$5 per user.
On the donor side, the most significant movement is the reduction in funding from the United Kingdom (UK), which has historically been the world’s second largest donor. The U.K. is implementing its decision to temporarily reduce foreign aid from .7 percent to .5 percent of its gross national income. This translated into a US$100 million drop in funding for family planning from 2020 to 2021.
“But because several other donor governments posted significant increases in funding in 2021—Australia, Denmark, Germany, Norway, and Sweden—the overall bilateral total held steady at the 2020 level. This figure is, however, well below the peak achieved in 2019 (US$1.52 billion).
“Bilateral funding in 2021 does not seem to have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the ongoing economic pressures resulting from the pandemic as well as the war in Ukraine could have an impact on future year disbursements.”
Meanwhile, Bilateral family planning funding from donor governments was essentially flat in 2021: US$1.39 billion compared with the 2020 level of US$1.41 billion (Figure 11).1,2.
While the overall amount remained steady in 2021, there were significant variations among several donors.
Funding from five donor governments (Australia, Denmark, Germany, Norway, and Sweden) rose in 2021, with Sweden having the largest overall increase (rising by more than $50 million from US$129.3 million in 2020 to US$180.4 million in 2021); funding from Australia and Germany both doubled in 2021 (Australia increased from US$23.9 million in 2020 to US$49.0 million in 2021; Germany went from US$32.9 million in 2020 to US$66.2 million in 2021).
These increases offset a significant decline of more than US$100 million by the UK, a decrease that was not unexpected given the UK government’s decision to reduce overall ODA. Funding from the Netherlands also declined slightly, while funding from Canada and the U.S. remained flat.
These trends were the same after adjusting for inflation and exchange rate fluctuations. More broadly, while bilateral funding from donor governments for family planning has fluctuated over the past decade, it has generally risen since the London Summit in 2012. Funding in 2021 was approximately US$200 million higher than in 2012 (US$1.19 billion), though this was below the peak level reached over the period (US$1.52 billion in 2019).
The U.S. continued to be the largest bilateral donor to family planning in 2021, accounting for 42 percent (US$576.7 million) of bilateral funding from governments (Figure 12). The Netherlands was the second-largest donor (US$190.5 million, or 14 percent), followed by Sweden (US$180.4 million, 13 percent), the UK (US$157.8 million, 11 percent), and Canada (US$98.9 million, 7percent).
