Off the wire
• Namibia gov't lifts ban on mussels harvesting  • Rwanda targets zero HIV stigma, discrimination by 2020  • 2nd LD: eight bodies recovered from collapsed mine in Ukraine  • Turkey's official cancels visit to Germany over protest  • Flood-hit schools shut down in Namibia  • French shares close flat Thursday  • Xinhua Insight: Yangtze River brings a new flow to China's inland provinces  • U.S. stocks retreat amid rate hike concerns  • Snap debuts on New York Stock Exchange  • Sudan's new gov't to include all political forces: president  
You are here: 　 Home

Brussels hosts int'l meeting to fundraise for family planning after U.S. funding ban

Xinhua, March 3, 2017 Adjust font size:

Nearly 50 countries attended an international conference here on Thursday, aiming to collect funds for sexual health and family planning worldwide, after a U.S. decision to ban funding, local media reported.

Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Cooperation Alexander De Croo said he was delighted to see the strong support from the international community to participate to the Global Fundraising Initiative She Decides.

The conference aims at joining forces to support non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working around family planning and women's rights.

It came following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to ban funding for organizations that support girls and women on family planning, contraception, and safe abortion.

"We cannot let thousands of women and girls down because of the ideological choices of one country. We have a choice and a voice," De Croo said at the opening of the conference.

"What unites us today is the willingness to mobilize ourselves not against someone, but for thousands of women," he said.

According to local media RTBF, the U.S. ban would trigger a financial gap estimated between 500 and 600 U.S. million dollars, a gap that the international coalition is struggling to fill.

So far, over 40 million U.S. dollars has been pledged for the She Decides initiative thanks to Belgium (10 million U.S. dollars), Sweden (21 million U.S. dollars), Denmark (10 million U.S. dollars) and the Netherlands (10 million U.S. dollars).

"I think we will easily reach the amount of 100 million dollars today," said De Croo. "What matters most is not the amount of money we reach, but the degree of impact we have."

The She Decides initiative was started on Jan. 24 by the Dutch Minister for Foreign Exchange and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen who said that this conference "is only a start".

Ploumen will meet the Trump administration in April this year, and hopes to make them reconsider their position on this matter. Endit