Nairobi — The first African organisation to advance women's reproductive health and provide contraceptive services began its work in Kenya about 40 years ago. In fact, Kenya was the first African country to establish a population policy and a national family planning programme, both in 1967.

Because of this early headstart, the country has been able to check its population growth.

Despite these early accomplishments, however, 24 per cent of Kenya's married women who want to stop or delay their child bearing today are not using family planning. This has consequently led to high rates of abortion.

It is quite disturbing, therefore, to read that donors, who provide 80 per cent of the funds needed to procure contraceptives, have decided to channel a substantial proportion of their resources towards HIV/Aids prevention programmes.

It is estimated that the percentage of women using contraceptives in this country has stagnated at 39 per cent from 1998 to the present. Further reduction of funds to procure these population control services will only lower this figure.

The cutback in funding traces its genesis to the infamous "Global Gag Rule" imposed by the US government in 2001 on NGOs receiving international family planning assistance, purportedly to reduce abortion.

Instead of reducing abortion, the policy is having a negative impact on international family planning programmes, hampering their ability to provide basic reproductive healthcare services and leaving women vulnerable to unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, not to mention HIV/Aids.

If the policy's goal was to ensure separation of abortion-related activities from family planning - in a country where abortion is illegal and causes many health complications and deaths each year - it has sorely missed its mark.

It is in this light that the donors should rethink their position on providing family planning assistance to countries where abortion is illegal.

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