The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released its annual budget for its sexual health and reproduction programme, which reveals it is spending millions of dollars on projects related to global abortion provision.
11% of programme funding spent on abortion services around the world
The Human Reproduction Programme (HRP), run by the WHO, directed 11% of its funds for 2022-23 on projects related to abortion.
Activities that this funding is spent on include developing an ‘evidence base’ that has been used to lobby governments around the world to introduce ‘DIY’ at-home abortions.
The report also details their work to ‘scale up’ the availability of Mifepristone and Misoprostol, the two ‘commodities’ used in medical abortions.
Prioritising abortion over protecting women and girls
Only 5% of the budget is directed to programmes tackling violence against women and girls. And only 15% of the budget funds maternal and perinatal health. The high proportion of money set aside for abortion provision indicates where the WHO’s priorities lie.
In a recent report entitled “Africa’s Pandemic: A Gateway to Neo-Colonialism”, Obianuju Ekeocha, a Nigerian filmmaker, author, and social activist, highlighted that when the need for food, water and basic healthcare was far more acute (during the pandemic and arguably now still), “[Western] donors seem to be much more concerned with furthering the territories of the abortion movement”. She goes on to note that those in Africa should be heard in Africa, and should “reject this kind of neocolonialism …”.
Taxpayer money funding abortion overseas
The HRP receives nearly all of its funding from voluntary contributions, including from the UK Government through the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. However, recent polling shows that 65% of the general population oppose taxpayer money going to fund abortions overseas.
Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said “It is shocking to see the priorities of the World Health Organization. When millions more dollars are spent on abortion than preventing violence against women and girls, it is clear that something has gone terribly wrong”.
“The UK Government should listen to the views of the public and stop sending taxpayer’s money overseas to fund abortions. Instead, money should be invested in enabling women to access the support that they need to have their children”.
