$1 Billion for U.S. International FP/RH Programs: Family Planning, Environmental and HIV/AIDS Communities and Key Congressional Members Build Support on Capitol Hill

Over the last year, the family planning community, in partnership with the environmental and HIV/AIDS communities, has called on Congress to support significant increases in funding for international FP/RH programs. Committed to reversing long-term declines in U.S. funding trends for international FP/RH programs and addressing the unmet family planning needs of more than 201 million women in the developing world, PAI and a coalition of international family planning advocates have been building support in the House and Senate to significantly increase U.S. government  funding for FP/RH programs to $1 Billion.¹

Civil society groups, including members of the International Family Planning Coalition, have solicited support for this critical investment from Congressional leadership in both the House and Senate. ²Additionally, key Congressional allies -- 91 House members and key Democratic Senators, including President-elect Barack Obama--signed a letter to their respective House and Senate Appropriations Committees in support of $1 Billion for FP/RH programs in FY 2009. ³The House and Senate Appropriation Subcommittees for State-Foreign Operations, chaired by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT), oversee the annual State-Foreign Operations bill that funds U.S. development and humanitarian assistance programs, including international Family Planning and Reproductive Health (FP/RH) programs.

¹In all, to understand why $1 Billion is necessary to achieve progress on international FP/RH from February, 2008, read here:

• $1 Billion Justification

²To read the May 2008 letter from over two dozen civil society organizations asking for House and Senate Congressional leadership to support $1 Billion for FP/RH programs, read further:

• FY 2009 Civil Society Letter to Senate Majority Leader
• FY 2009 Civil Society Letter to the Speaker of the House

³To read if your Congressional representative signed a letter from March and July of 2008 to their respective Appropriations Committees in support of $1 Billion for FP/RH programs, click here:

• FY 2009 House Members Letter to Chairwoman Lowey
• FY 2009 Senate Members Letter to Chairman Leahy

To read two February 2009 letters to Office of Management and Budget Director Orszag from multiple House members in support of roughly a doubling of bilateral and multilateral assistance for FP/RH to $1 billion, including a request of $65 million from the IO and P accounts for a U.S. contribution to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), click here:

• FY 2010 House Members Letter to OMB Director Orszag in support of $1 Billion for FP/RH programs
• FY 2010 House Members Letter to OMB Director Orszag in support of increased funding for UNFPA

To read the February 2009 letter from over two dozen civil society organizations asking President Obama's Director of Office of Management and Budget to support $1 Billion for FP/RH programs in FY 2010, read on:

• FY 2010 OMB Civil Society Letter to Director Orszag