Center for Global Development’s “Global Health Policy Blog”: She Decides, But Who Pays?
Rachel Silverman, senior policy analyst at CGD, discusses the need for and challenges of global funding for women’s reproductive and sexual health and rights programs, including the potential implications of U.S. policy changes on global reproductive health and pledges made at the ‘She Decides’ conference. Silverman writes, “[T]the current situation clearly illustrates the dangers of donor dependency when women’s lives hang in the balance, and especially when one country accounts for such a big portion of total support. Donors can help mitigate the risk from the current situation, and possible policy changes in the future, by helping incentivize countries to fund these services from their own domestic budgets. … [T]hree cheers to the pledging countries, and to the She Decides leaders for their quick and bold mobilization. But let’s temper our celebration with some realism — there’s much more still to do” (3/3).