Australia lifts restrictions on family planning aid
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith announced plans to change family planning guidelines for Australia's overseas development assistance program to support a wider range of family planning services for women in developing countries.
The announcement follows a review of guidelines, which had been in place since 1996, that prohibited Australian overseas development funding from being used for activities which involve the termination of a pregnancy."This is a difficult issue and the Government recognises that there are strong views, firmly held, on all sides," Minister Smith said in a statement.
The statement said: "Avoiding terminations through family planning services and advice will continue to be the focus of Australian funded activities. Australian and international NGOs will continue to be able to choose what services they deliver in line with their own philosophies and policies."
Minister Smith also said Australia would provide additional funding of up to $15 million over four years through UN agencies and NGOs for family planning and reproductive health activities to help reduce maternal deaths.
"Thousands of women and their families in our region will now be able to plan the numbers and spacing of their children should they wish to," said Jane Singleton, CEO of the Australian Reproductive Health Alliance, which is a member of the Asia Pacific Alliance for ICPD. Ms Singleton described the government's decision as a humane and enlightened change.
For more information, visit the websites of AHRA and AusAID.
