John – the world’s eyes are on the United States as President-elect Biden is imminently inaugurated as the country’s next leader. But what does this mean for IPPF? Well, we hope it marks the end of the dangerous Mexico City Policy, aka the Global Gag Rule (GGR).
GGR denies US funding to organizations like ours if they use non-US funds to provide abortion services, counselling or referrals. Not only does GGR prevent these services taking place, but it also blocks critical funding for healthcare like contraception, maternal health, and HIV prevention and treatment. It is a policy which, simply put, denies people their individual right to choose. This means that over the past four years, dozens of IPPF Member Associations around the world were forced to slash life-saving healthcare provisions – with devastating consequences.
During these troubling times, support to help plug the funding gaps has come from generous donor governments through the SheDecides Initiative. Over the last four years, several donors funded activities like the youth group which teaches about sex through dance and comedy in Mali, and the outreach clinic that's able to provide sexual and reproductive health services to women in Malawi, who may otherwise have to walk hours for help. Find out more about these essential projects, and please share with your networks too:
