On 29th October the EPF addressed a letter to French Members of Parliament. It was timed to coincide with discussions about the budget for Official Development Aid (ODA) in the French Parliament on 2nd November, and highlighted significant facts about French ODA devoted to health funding.
 

EPF’s intention was to demonstrate to French parliamentarians the importance of devoting ODA to SRHR projects in the developing world. The letter stressed that the structural lack of ODA relating to the health sector at present is having ongoing critical consequences on impoverished women in developing countries, for whom pregnancy continues to be a severe risk to their health. With less than 5 years remaining before the 2015 deadline of the UN Millennium Development Goals the letter also reminded MPs that poor sexual and reproductive health are central features in the vicious circle of poverty, but are also ones that can be avoided.

The letter went on to highlight statistics about maternal mortality in the developing world, and to emphasize that it is critical to invest in Sexual and Reproductive Health now to ensure that the MDG deadline is reached.

We are currently awaiting the outcome of the discussions, which are scheduled to take place on 2nd and 3rd November.