Ms Abena Adubea Amoah, the Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), has asked the Government to prioritise the provision of Family Planning (FP) commodities.
She said statistics from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) indicated that FP commodities available were not enough and that donors consistently provided more than 80 per cent of a larger portion of the country’s procurements, which was not sustainable.
The Executive Director said donors in recent times had also been calling for an increase in the 20 per cent quota the government provided, adding that as of the last count in 2018, Ghana had a deficit of about 1.6 million for family planning commodities, which needed to be addressed.
Ms Amoah made the call in an interview during a stakeholder meeting with the FP 2030 Director in Accra to review Ghana’s SMART advocacy document on FP (Family Planning) 2030 for a successful implementation.
The aim is to ensure that all the focal stakeholders work with the government and hold it accountable to the commitment it has made towards FP 2030, which is to ensure that every woman and every girl, who needs family planning has access to commodities and services.
FP 2030 Ghana Commitment is a document that the government of Ghana has signed, and which looks at ensuring that women and girls have access to family planning commodities across the country.
FP 2030 is made up of government institutions, donors, civil society organisations, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), USAID and the youth focal points.
FP plays a critical role in shaping multiple dimensions of societal progress, including fertility management, poverty alleviation, gender equality, and women’s empowerment.
It plays a central role in the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly targets 3.7 which aims to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including family planning, information, and education, and 5.6 which aims to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, within Goals 3 and 5 respectively.
Ms Amoah said failure, therefore, to prioritise the provision of family planning commodities meant that some people would not be able to have access to FP services despite the gains made.
She said though the government was doing its best, there was more room for improvement, saying “ours is to ensure that the commitment Ghana has made, it works towards it.”
Mr Yusuf Nuhu, the Advocacy Accountability and Partnerships Manager, FP2030 Northwest and Central Africa Hub, said the meeting would ensure that the draft advocacy strategy developed sometime back was finalised to form part of the advocacy initiative that civil society and others would engage the government on and see how those commitments were fulfilled.
GNA
KK
27 March 24
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