USAID's Population Program enters the new millennium facing new challenges and opportunities. Although the program will see a modest increase this year to $425 million from $372 million in FY2000, it is suffering the cumulative effects of six years of low and stagnant funding. While funding levels have declined, the problems that face the program have grown. Foremost among them is the HIV/AIDS crisis, which has decimated the ranks of family planning and health care providers at a time when the urgency of avoiding an unplanned pregnancy has never been greater. Linked to the HIV/AIDS crisis is the emergence of a serious gap in the supply of condoms in developing countries. USAID's population program supplies one billion condoms annually, more than any other single donor or national program. However, the high cost of U.S. manufactured condoms and the growing demand for them as a primary vehicle in the prevention of STDs, including HIV, makes it difficult for this level of U.S. support to be sustained. To address the concerns of a new era, USAID's Office of Population recently completed an exercise to define its vision for the next 3 - 5 years. The exercise provided an opportunity to define the principal themes and special initiatives of the population program for the 21st century. The new vision will be included in this presentation.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, the listener will know the principal challenges and opportunities facing US international family planning assistance in the next decade and will understand how they are being addressed.
Keywords: Family Planning, Population
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.