I

ndonesia, India and Bangladesh have recorded the highest domestic government expenditures on family planning among 31 countries surveyed in a recently released groundbreaking report.

The Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) Catalyzing Collaboration Report was officially launched on Monday at the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP) in Kigali, providing a benchmark for countries to measure their commitments to better family planning.

“This is the first time that domestic government expenditure on family planning has been reported, with validated data from 31 commitment-making countries,” FP2020 executive director Beth Schlater said.

According to the report, global spending on family planning totalled US$3.4 billion. Of this number, 48 percent originates from donors, followed by domestic government spending (34 percent), out-of-pocket spending (14 percent) and corporate funds (4 percent).

Seven countries in particular make up the lion’s share of the overall figure, led by India, Bangladesh and Indonesia. The report says Indonesia spent $196 million on family planning in 2016, trailing only India with $249 million and Bangladesh with $225 million in the same year.

During the summit, Indonesia pledged to allocate $263.7 million in funds for family planning.

To mark President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s four years in office, the government recently released a report on his administration’s performance. In it, the health sector was showered with praise.

In 2014, Indonesia launched its national health insurance (JKN) program, which aims to achieve universal health care by 2019. Family planning services are covered, even though challenges remain. JKN undertook a comprehensive assessment in 2018 to evaluate how well the insurance scheme is performing in terms of family planning.

As of July, 77 percent of the total population were enrolled in the program, according to data FP2020 collated.

According to the report, domestic government expenditures reflected a government’s commitment to its family planning program and the prospects for its long-term financial sustainability. This includes all government expenditure that supports family planning, including commodity purchases, demand creation campaigns, investment in training and research and service delivery.

“It has taken years of work and wide-ranging efforts to establish the necessary methodologies to collect, analyze and validate these expenditures,” said Jason Bremner, director of data and performance management at FP2020.

“With better data on domestic expenditures, we are able to present a more accurate picture of total spending on family planning across the 69 FP2020 focus countries.”

FP2020 is an outcome of the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning where more than 20 governments including Indonesia, as well as donor agencies, private sector players and civil society organizations made commitments to address policymaking, financing, delivery and socio-cultural barriers to women’s access to contraceptives information, services and supplies.

The partnership is entirely voluntary. Governments and institutions make formal commitments, but there are no legal or financial mechanisms to enforce compliance.

“It is the governments and partners themselves that are accountable for the promises they make and the action they take. When a government makes a promise and a commitment, it is the promise and commitment made for its people to enhance their lives,” Schlater said.

The onus was on the people — on civil society organizations and the media — to hold governments accountable to their pledges, she added.