FINLAND

POPULATION AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ASSISTANCE
OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Drastic cuts in Finland’s foreign aid program in recent years have also reduced funds available to population programs. Even in an environment of shrinking resources, however, Finland allocates a higher share of its development cooperation budget to population assistance than many other donors. Still, current levels of population assistance remain significantly below levels achieved in the early 1990s. While Finland reports a recent increase in population assistance, this likely reflects the broader definition of population programs used to report expenditures since 1994.

Finland allocates the bulk of its population assistance through international organizations, primarily UNFPA. Finland’s small bilateral population program is thinly dispersed across twenty recipient countries, undermining its impact. Bilateral programs also favor broad reproductive health programs over more focused family planning activities. Given shrinking staff in the bilateral aid program, the greatest potential for increasing Finnish population assistance is through the multilateral channel.

1 Development Assistance: Policy and Funding

Finland’s economic woes have led to drastic cuts in foreign aid in recent years. In 1995, the newly elected government responded to a 20 percent unemployment rate by instituting stringent controls on public spending. This included freezing expenditures on development assistance at $388 million–the level achieved in 1995 after years of budget cuts.

In 1996, when economic conditions improved, the government issued a policy statement "unfreezing" development assistance levels and confirming Finland’s commitment to achieving the UN target of 0.7 percent of GNP for development aid. This policy shift coincided with Finland’s membership in the European Union and a government initiative to review development assistance programs and policies. Aid levels rose in 1996 to $408 million or 0.34 percent of GNP. In 1997, however, Finnish development assistance fell again to $379 million or 0.33 percent of GNP.

The Department for International Development Cooperation (formerly FINNIDA) within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs administers the Finnish aid program. The aid program has been shrinking in staff resources even as its responsibilities have expanded to include cooperation and coordination with the European Commission. In 1996, 43 percent of Finnish development assistance was allocated through multilateral channels, including $42 million through the European Commission and other funds channeled through UN agencies and international financial institutions.

Finland’s aid is geographically concentrated in Africa, which receives half of all project aid. Priority countries in Africa include Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. Finland also programs bilateral development funds in Bangladesh, Nepal, Nicaragua and Vietnam. Program emphases include poverty, the environment and human rights and democracy.

2 The Policy Environment for International Population Assistance

Finland, while not among the largest donors to population programs, devotes a relatively high percentage of development assistance to population activities. Since 1989, Finland has devoted over two percent of development assistance to population, with this ratio peaking in 1995 at close to six percent. Finland includes the development of human resources–including investments in reproductive health, family planning and primary health care–as a priority activity related to the goal of poverty alleviation.

A recent public opinion survey on development assistance found that 99 percent of a sample of 1,000 Finns generally support development assistance, and 69 percent favor giving priority to expenditures on health.

3 Trends in Funding for Population Assistance

Overall Funding Levels:

Finland contributed $19.8 million in population assistance in 1996, ranking 11th among donor countries in the aid it provides to this sector. This represents a significant increase from 1994, when Finnish population assistance dropped to its lowest point at just $7 million. Despite this positive recent trend, population assistance levels remain below the peak $25 million level achieved in 1991 prior to budget cuts. Moreover, expenditures reported since 1995 reflect a broader range of reproductive health activities than in 1994 and earlier years.

Multilateral Funding:

Finland traditionally allocates the bulk of its population assistance to multilateral organizations. Finland’s contributions to UNFPA peaked in 1991 at $24 million, and then fell to a low of $4.2 million in 1993. Finland has only partially restored its funding for UNFPA; its contribution of $14.5 million in 1997 ranks Finland ninth among the major donors to UNFPA. Finland also supports multi-bilateral projects in collaboration with UNFPA, including a youth reproductive health program and some census activities. In addition, Finland has co-financed a population project in Kenya with the World Bank, and contributes to reproductive health research carried out by the Population Council and the WHO human reproduction research program.

Bilateral Funding:

Recently, Finland has reported an increased share of expenditures through the bilateral channel. Previously, Finland reported channeling only about 1 to 2 percent of population expenditures through bilateral programs. This percentage increased to 42 percent in 1995 and to 13 percent in 1996, following introduction of the broader definition of population assistance.

Funding for NGOs:

Since 1990, Finland has allocated between one and four percent of its population assistance to projects implemented by NGOs. This proportion rose significantly in 1996, when Finland allocated 14 percent of population aid through international and national NGOs. Finland’s contribution to IPPF has fluctuated during the past decade; it made no contribution in 1992, and then slowly restored funding to about $344,000 in 1997. The net outcome of these erratic contributions has been an increase of about 40 percent between 1988 and 1997 in funding for IPPF.

4 Program Priorities

Geographic Priorities:

Most of Finland’s bilateral population assistance is concentrated in North and sub-Saharan Africa. The largest projects in financial terms are in Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique and Uganda. Of these, the Manica Health Project in Mozambique is the only family planning and reproductive health project; other large Finnish initiatives in Africa focus on AIDS prevention and control and primary health care (including reproductive health services).

Finland also funds bilateral programs in Asia and Latin America, including an activity in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province that provides reproductive health services through the primary health care system. In Latin America, Finland supported small initiatives in Ecuador, Paraguay and Peru in 1996; in 1997, it initiated a reproductive health and women’s empowerment program in Nicaragua.

Areas of Program Emphasis:

Roughly half of resources allocated in 1996 for bilateral and NGO population programs went to broad reproductive health activities. These include primary health care or community development projects with reproductive health components. Family planning activities made up about a third of bilateral population assistance expenditures, and STD control approximately 20 percent. In terms of its stated policies, the Finnish aid program emphasizes sustainability, participatory program planning, voluntary contraception, cost recovery and an emphasis on quality of care.

5 Technical Capacity

Staffing:

Traditionally, Finland’s bilateral aid program has had very limited technical staff in population and reproductive health. Currently, one health and population advisor within the Ministry is directly involved in population-related programming.

Technical Expertise of Collaborating Institutions:

The Finnish aid program uses the technical expertise of a number of public and private collaborating institutions in the population field. Within the government, the Finnish health and social welfare administration provides advisory services to the Department for International Development Cooperation. In addition, Vaestolitto, the national IPPF affiliate, has participated with the government in both planning and implementation of international population projects. The Finnish Red Cross provides expertise to the aid program in HIV/AIDS-related programs. Various private consulting organizations have also had a long-standing involvement with general health and development projects in priority countries such as Kenya, Egypt and Mozambique over the past 10 years.