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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:#C00000">TO SIGN THE SHE DECIDES MANIFESTO, CLICK:
</span></b><a href="https://www.shedecides.com/manifesto/">https://www.shedecides.com/manifesto/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then Click On <b><span style="color:#C00000">SIGN THE MANIFESTO.</span></b><span style="color:#C00000"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><a href="https://www.shedecides.com/"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:inherit;color:blue;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="663" height="92" id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image002.png@01D5364A.742AA7D0" alt="She Decides Logo"></span></a><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:inherit"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:44.55pt;vertical-align:baseline"><b><span style="font-size:40.5pt;font-family:inherit;color:#131C22">The </span></b><b><span style="font-size:40.5pt;font-family:inherit;color:white;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in;background:#E01923">manifesto</span></b><b><span style="font-size:40.5pt;font-family:inherit;color:#131C22"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:38.6pt;vertical-align:baseline"><b><span style="font-size:35.0pt;font-family:inherit;color:white;text-transform:uppercase;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">WHEN</span></b><b><span style="font-size:35.0pt;font-family:inherit;color:#E01923;text-transform:uppercase"> SHE<br>
</span></b><b><span style="font-size:35.0pt;font-family:inherit;color:white;text-transform:uppercase;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">DECIDES</span></b><b><span style="font-size:35.0pt;font-family:inherit;color:#E01923;text-transform:uppercase"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;vertical-align:baseline"><b><span style="font-size:15.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#E01923;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">The world is better, stronger, safer.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">She decides whether, when, and with whom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">To have sex.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">To fall in love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">To marry.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">To have children.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">She has the right.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">To information, to health care, to choose.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">She is free.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">To feel pleasure.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">To use contraception.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">To access abortion safely.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">To decide.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">Free from pressure.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">Free from harm.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">Free from judgement and fear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">Because when others decide for her, she<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">faces violence, forced marriage, oppression.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">She faces risks to her health, to her dignity,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">to her dreams, to her life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">When she does not decide, she cannot create the life she deserves,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">the family she wants, a prosperous future to call her own.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">We - and you, and he, and they - are uniting. Standing together with her so she can make the decisions only
she should make.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">Political leadership and social momentum are coming together like never before.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">But we can go further, and we can do more.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">From today, we fight against the fear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">We right the wrongs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">We mobilise political and financial support.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">We work to make laws and policies just.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">We stand up for what is right.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">Together, we create the world that<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">is better, stronger, safer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22">But only </span><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:inherit;color:#131C22;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">if.</span></b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22"> And
only </span><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:inherit;color:#131C22;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">when.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:inherit;color:#131C22"><img border="0" width="663" height="92" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image003.png@01D5364A.742AA7D0" alt="She decides logo"><span style="border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><img border="0" width="808" height="140" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image004.png@01D5364A.742AA7D0" alt="Sign the manifesto"></span></span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:inherit;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Sign up as an organisation</span><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#131C22;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Sign up as an individual<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">_________________________________________________________________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.devex.com/news/q-a-bringing-women-s-rights-into-the-finance-discussion-94404"><span style="color:blue">https://www.devex.com/news/q-a-bringing-women-s-rights-into-the-finance-discussion-94404</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333">Bringing Women's Health & Rights Into The Finance Discussion<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333"><img border="0" width="720" height="405" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D53649.4E495940" alt="https://res.cloudinary.com/devex/image/fetch/c_scale,f_auto,q_auto,w_720/https:/lh5.googleusercontent.com/GrGhZw0f1WJmFB3UVkhk7wPpQua4abRL-jQXlkG5KdVCVVPiagEzuSuEE9own0tu1G8SqW7tHgavY2-ywyfFqPQ0djo8-UY8Dt5olwFsT3I5RZ4MoTfQtz5C--egE_N99lPyJ4Dx"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333">Women at a maternity hospital in Mille town, Afar Region, Ethiopia. Photo by:
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/unicefethiopia/22289603692/"><span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">©UNICEF Ethiopia / Tesfaye</span></a> /
<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/"><span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">CC BY-NC-ND</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#999999;background:white">By <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/authors/1215641"><b><span style="font-family:inherit;color:#FF9900">Natalie Donback</span></b></a> </span></i><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#999999;background:white">// </span></i><i><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#999999;background:white">08
July 2019<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">BARCELONA — To guarantee the most vulnerable women are not left behind, it’s important to adopt a rights-based approach
to maternal health financing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">Reina Buijs, acting director-general for international cooperation at the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
said that “since maternal mortality is often the result of a combination of complex issues, we are not able to reach these women if we only adopt a standard approach.”
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">“Only if you look through a rights lens will you have a clearer picture of what different women, or different
groups of women, need.” </span></i><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#555555">— Reina Buijs, acting director-general for international cooperation, the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">Instead, she told Devex, it’s about an “equitable approach,” meaning that you have to create different approaches
for women depending on their circumstances.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">“If you’ve got a rights-based approach, then you start with the women and [look at] what their needs are, and how
you can adjust the services to what they need.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">Sexual and reproductive health and rights is an integral part of a well-functioning health system and a
<a href="https://www.devex.com/news/srhr-uhc-and-the-search-for-increased-domestic-funding-95116">
<span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">critical component to achieving </span>
</a>universal health coverage. However, while the 2030 agenda acknowledges the role of SRHR in achieving the health-, equality-, and education-related goals, lack of funding remains a significant barrier.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt;background:whitesmoke">
<b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333"><a href="https://pages.devex.com/healthyaccess.html?utm_medium=link&utm_source=devex&utm_campaign=healthy_access"><span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">Healthy Access</span></a></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:20.25pt;background:whitesmoke"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">The international development community has set a clear goal of reaching universal health coverage by 2030 — while
leaving no one behind. How do we ensure access to quality care for all? This content series looks at the technology, practical solutions, and innovative financing tools driving improved access to
<a href="https://pages.devex.com/healthyaccess.html?utm_medium=link&utm_source=devex&utm_campaign=healthy_access">
<span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">quality care around the globe</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">To eliminate preventable maternal, child, and adolescent deaths alone, the annual funding gap to be bridged stands
at <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/dsgsm1163.doc.htm"><span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">$33 billion</span></a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">Buijs explained that the so-called “<a href="https://www.devex.com/news/search?query=%22global+gag+rule%22"><span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">global
gag rule</span></a>” — reinstated and expanded in 2017 by U.S. President Donald Trump to the<a href="https://www.devex.com/news/ngos-push-back-on-positive-us-review-of-global-gag-rule-92071"><span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none"> </span></a><a href="https://www.devex.com/news/ngos-push-back-on-positive-us-review-of-global-gag-rule-92071"><span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">dismay
of many global health providers</span></a> — has generated uncertainty, with the loss of much financing for organizations working to improve women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">The expanded policy has put some<a href="https://www.devex.com/news/trump-expands-global-gag-rule-targeting-8-8b-in-global-health-aid-90291"><span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none"> </span></a><a href="https://www.devex.com/news/trump-expands-global-gag-rule-targeting-8-8b-in-global-health-aid-90291"><span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">$8.8
billion in global health funding</span></a> on the line, making it even more important to place the women at risk of losing access to necessary services at the center of such programs.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">“The impact is tremendous, especially given that U.S. financing used to be quite big in this area. So that's a real
loss,” Buijs said. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">It has been estimated that up to
<a href="https://www.globalfundforwomen.org/infographic-global-gag-rule/#.XIaU2hNKiqA">
<span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">26 million women</span></a> around the world will be excluded from contraceptive services and supplies as a result of the reinstated policy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">Yet innovative financing could help reach some of the women who can’t access necessary services as a result of the
reinstated rule, according to Buijs, by ensuring there is “no organization in between that can be targeted by a gag rule.”
</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">“Through innovative financing, you can find ways that go beyond the traditional public health systems and already-existing
ways of reaching women.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">Buijs discussed the importance of adopting a rights-based approach to maternal health care and the consequences of
the gag rule. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">Why is it important to integrate a rights-based approach in financing for maternal health?</span></i></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">If you just start from the public health problem, you may forget that the needs of different women are different,
and then you’ll end up serving those who are able to find you through public or private services. You won’t cater to those most in need, because their needs are different. Only if you look through the rights lens will you have a clearer picture of what different
women, or different groups of women, need. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">That's why we think this rights-based approach is so important.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">For instance, if you talk about family planning, it's of course about making contraceptives available, but if you
don’t know what challenges or obstacles women face in accessing those contraceptives, then just having the commodities available isn’t enough. You need to work together with them [to understand] how they can access them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">How has the global gag rule affected women’s rights and access to reproductive and maternal care?</span></i></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">In terms of consequences, a lot of organizations are confused. We're put in a really difficult position about what
to do. Either [you] comply with the gag rule and sign the [policy] contract and continue to receive funding, but at the same time, you’re being completely hampered in the work you normally do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">It’s not only abortion or abortion-related activities, it's often far broader: It's about providing health care,
medication, contraceptives, and it has no direct link to abortion … Or you can say “No, we're not going to comply with it,” and then lose your financing for the work you want to do for all those women. And that's really an impossible decision that all organizations
have to make.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">But of course behind these organizations are all the women who [benefit] from the services of these organizations.
They are just left on their own. And it's not only because they can't access information and access to safe abortion anymore, but all the other services those organizations were providing such as comprehensive sexuality education, contraceptives provision,
often also maternal health checks. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">How can partners and donors leverage not only their financial resources but also their advocacy power and expertise
to support a rights-based approach?</span></i></b><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:white">!<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">The best example is the
<a href="https://www.devex.com/news/as-she-decides-marks-one-year-celebrations-and-questions-over-its-future-direction-92222">
<span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">She Decides movement</span></a> that the former minister of trade and development cooperation in the Netherlands started. Once the global gag rule was reinstated by President Trump, we said “OK, of course we
won’t be able — as the Netherlands, and not even collectively as donors — to step in to fill the [financing] gap that exists. However, what we can do is to use some money, but particularly advocacy, to make others aware [of the issue] and look for ways to
collectively stand up against it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">How can funding for maternal health be made more sustainable and less vulnerable to a changing political climate?</span></i></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">First of all, it's governments themselves that need to budget for health services [ensuring they have] enough budget.
Of course, we are far from that for many countries.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">It’s also about looking at other ways of financing, perhaps through voucher systems or direct financing; different
ways of innovative financing where there's no organization in between that can be targeted by a gag rule. We need to be very creative to think about other ways of reaching these women — perhaps reaching them more directly through vouchers could be one option.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">What’s currently working — and what’s not — in maternal health financing?</span></i></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">What the
<a href="https://www.devex.com/organizations/global-financing-facility-gff-116021">
<span style="color:#336699;text-decoration:none">Global Financing Facility</span></a> is doing [with] trying to collectively bring to a platform all the available resources for health financing — particularly for children, adolescents, and maternal health.
And not only looking at public funding or lending, but also [funding] from the private sector, and I think that’s the way to go. There’s strong ownership at country-level, and the financing from different sources comes together to finance this.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">This is from the service provider [perspective] — and of course, service provision needs to be there and it needs
to be of high quality — but you also need to think from the women’s perspectives.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">There are examples, such as our work with GFF in Mozambique, where I’ve seen a program where women get a voucher,
and with that voucher, they can choose where to go for their services so you don’t make them dependent on one organization. If you take that person-centered approach, which is a rights-based approach, then you’ll come with new ideas on how to finance [maternal
health].<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">What can the global health community do to overcome some of the challenges it is facing?</span></i></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">It’s a collective effort — not just looking at maternal health, but bringing in a broader [approach] so that it’s
less vulnerable. Secondly, to think way more about results-based financing, that you try to address the inefficiencies outside of the system because I think we can do a lot better there. It can help to have more private [sector] approaches, more business-like
approaches in health services as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">It’s important to work on advocacy and some of the rights-based perspectives that women need to be able to choose.
And also, [we need] a lot of investment in comprehensive sexuality education because many women that need access to safe abortions would have loved to prevent [the pregnancy].
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:20.25pt;line-height:20.25pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#333333">That is a very, very important and often neglected part. And it’s not only about comprehensive sexuality education
for girls, but also for boys and having a debate about it in society. Again, it’s a rights angle approach and that’s so crucial.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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