By Bill W. Cooper
The Executive Director for the Initiative for Women and Youth Empowerment in Liberia (IWYE), Musu Davis, has commended the Liberian government for increasing the Family Planning budget from US$20,000 to US$40,000 in the 2024 national budget but craved for more budgetary allotment.
Madam Davis also praised the government for recognizing the importance of family planning in health promotion and the wellbeing of women and youth in Liberia, evidenced by its budgetary allotment.
She noted that access to family planning services is crucial in empowering women and youth to make informed decisions about their reproductive health and future and as such, its latest increment in FY-2024 budget is welcoming.
Family Planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them and things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marital situation, career or work considerations, financial situations.
It can be recalled that the IWYE has been a champion for family planning right in Liberia, thus knocking on the doors of requisite government institutions including the Ministry of Health and Legislature to prioritize family planning in the budget.
During her advocacy, ED Davis at the time termed the current blind-eye placed on family planning by the Liberian government as a threat to the future of school going girls, especially those in rural communities as teenage pregnancy continue to increase in that part of Liberia.
She then called on the Joseph Boakai-led government to prioritize family planning products and services when approving the budget, a call that has since yielded the needed result thus leading the US$40, 000 increment of the family planning budget.
“I want to use this time to thank every one of you for attending to our call. We have travelled across this country. We have testimonies of the many challenges affecting health care facilities across this country,” Davis added.
IWYE boss asserted, “We are pleased to see the government’s commitment to family planning in the FY-2024 budget and this increased budget allocation will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the lives of women and youth in Liberia.”
Meanwhile, IWYE is also calling on the government to go beyond this latest increment and further increase the family planning budget by an additional US$100,000 in the FY-2025 budget.
The IWYE ED emphasized that more needs to be done to ensure that family planning services are accessible to all women and youth in Liberia and pointed out that the current budget allocation for family planning is insufficient to meet the growing demand for services in the country.
“We appreciate the government’s efforts to prioritize family planning in the budget, but we believe that an additional US$100,000 is needed to adequately address the needs of women and youth in Liberia,” she mentioned.
She said it is painful hearing the level of challenges affecting health care facilities across Liberia, noting that though many of the public health care facilities expressed serious disappointment in the government, there is a need for CSOs working in the sector to conduct massive awareness campaign on the importance of family planning products and services in Liberia.
Davis also wondered, “It is estimated that in every 10 girls in Liberia, at least 3 gets pregnant before the age 18 which is drastically contributing to the increasing rate of school dropout. If these girls cannot go to school, then where are we going as a nation?”
“How can US$20,000 provide adequate family planning services and products across the 15 counties? How is this possible? Isn’t this a complete joke and total disregard to the future of a girl child? We need to act now as a government and country,” she admonished.
“We know that investing in family planning is a smart and cost-effective way to improve the health and well-being of women and youth in Liberia. By increasing the budget for family planning, the government can ensure that all individuals have access to the services they need to plan their families and achieve their goals,” she stated.
“We therefore urge the government to listen to the voices of women and youth in Liberia and prioritize family planning in the FY-2025 budget. By increasing the budget for family planning, the government can demonstrate its commitment to the health and well-being of all individuals in the country,” she concluded.
The Initiative for Women and Youth Empowerment (IWYE), founded in 2015, is a non-governmental and not-for-profit-making organization that is duly registered with the government and has been vigorously implementing programs and projects.
These projects aimed at women, youth, and girl’s empowerment, providing them education and awareness on health-related issues such as teenage/adolescent pregnancy, family planning, contraception, technical vocational skills training, advocacy on women’s rights among others.
IWYE has over the years worked and coordinated with both local and international organizations that work directly with women, youth, and girls in both rural and urban Liberia providing Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) education and championing the call for more support from national government.
To create a safe space for girls to make decisions on their health and wellbeing, IWYE is currently implementing a two-year project sponsored by AmplifyChange and titled “Advancing Call for Contraceptive and Equitable Sexual Reproductive and Health Right (SRHR) Services.”
