Devex: 5 topics to watch at the London Family Planning Summit
“…The London Family Planning Summit will ‘check in’ on advances and obstacles since its predecessor event in 2012, which saw donors and developing countries come together to work on improving access to family planning services. With a view to reaching an additional 120 million women by 2020, the event raised $2.6 billion in new financial commitments and political support from more than 40 developing countries, leading to the creation of the Family Planning 2020 partnership to support work toward the targets. … Earlier this year, President Donald Trump’s administration revived an expanded version of the global gag rule and cut $32.5 million in funding to the UNFPA … Trump’s budget request also proposes zeroing out all family planning funding in the U.S. foreign assistance budget…” (Anders/Edwards, 7/10).

Devex: Uganda’s lessons for Family Planning Summit
“At the first London Summit on Family Planning in 2012, Uganda was among the 36 developing countries to set out ambitious goals for themselves. President Yoweri Museveni committed to increasing Uganda’s annual budget allocation for family planning from $3.3 million to $5 million over five years, and to mobilizing additional donor funds. As the summit reconvenes this week to take stock of progress, advocates in Uganda will be watching closely to see if the East African nation, which has one of the world’s fastest growing population rates, can maintain the momentum…” (Fallon, 7/10).

The Guardian: 2017: the year we lost control of world population surge?
“Global efforts to help millions of women plan their families — and address unsustainable population growth — are falling woefully short, with looming cuts in funding threatening to hamper progress further, campaigners warn. On the eve of a landmark summit in London called to accelerate family planning progress in 69 of the world’s poorest countries, latest figures show that an eight-year program to get contraception to more than 100 million women is way off target. Concerns are mounting, too, that policies introduced by Donald Trump slashing funds for family planning programs will exacerbate the problem. The U.S. is the largest donor for family planning…” (Ford, 7/9).

The Guardian: Trump abortion crackdown risks stoking Nigeria’s population boom
“…Determined as they are to help women access contraception, the midwives of Maiduguri have a tough job. Their clients and their husbands are often suspicious of modern methods; in the wake of Boko Haram, the population of their city, the capital of Borno state, has doubled to two million people, and many people commute to work in the aftermath of bomb attacks. But their task has been made even harder by one man thousands of miles away: Donald Trump…” (Maclean, 7/9).