At the World Health Summit, Germany announces a €57 million flexible contribution to UNFPA

BERLIN, Germany -  At the World Health Summit in Berlin, the Government of Germany has announced a contribution to UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, to fund its core resources. In 2022, UNFPA received EUR57 million, making Germany the third top contributor to UNFPA core resources in 2022 so far. 

The announcement came during a panel on sexual and reproductive health for all, where the discussion has been focused on how to ensure access to services as part of universal health care, and how to create more resilient health systems to respond adequately to needs in crisis situations. UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem, who traveled to Berlin for the Summit, emphasized that “there is no universal health care without sexual and reproductive health and rights”.

The new contribution gives UNFPA flexibility and predictability to reach the three transformative results – no unmet need for family planning, no preventable maternal deaths and no gender-based violence – and address the unique needs of countries. Many countries depend heavily on core resources to achieve their sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Core resources ensure that UNFPA has a global presence – 150 countries – and allows for diversified strategies based on each country’s specific needs and context.

“Our core contribution amounts to 57 million euros this year,” said Dr. Bärbel Kofler, Germany Parliamentary State Secretary. “UNFPA is clearly a very important partner for Germany in strengthening sexual and reproductive health and in fighting gender inequality,” she added. Germany's contribution to UNFPA's core resources is a testament to the government's vision of a world where everyone, everywhere, can access quality and affordable care, and particularly sexual and reproductive health – a vision that is entailed in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)’s feminist development policy.

The core contribution comes at a critical time: In November, the world will reach 8 billion people on the planet, and core contributions from all donors and partners will be critical to keeping investing in people, family planning, reproductive and sexual health – and equal opportunities, rights and choices. As the world becomes more populated, the vision of caring for one another and showing solidarity must remain more alive than ever. This is what core resources are all about: creating the possibilities to afford each person opportunities that allow them to thrive, equally.

By giving to core resources, Germany is committed to creating a more equal world in which every pregnancy is intended and every birth is safe. In the last three years, Germany’s overall funding supported UNFPA’s effort to avert 2.9 million unintended pregnancies and 915 thousand unsafe abortions, and to reach over 4.8 million women and girls with reproductive health services. Germany is also a long-standing contributor to the Maternal and Newborn Health Thematic Fund, supporting midwifery training and obstetric fistula repair surgeries to strengthen maternal and newborn health, to which 3 additional million euros from Germany will be allocated, and to the UNFPA Supplies Partnership, with a 2.3 million euros additional German contribution for the next three years.