Press Releases

1. Following the passage of the fiscal 2017 budget, on March 28 the Japanese Government decided to contribute a total of approximately 3.1 billion yen (approximately 28 million U.S. dollars) to two population-related international organizations, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). This contribution follows a contribution totaling approximately 1.5 billion yen (approximately 12.26 million U.S. dollars) that the Government made in March this year to projects requiring emergency assistance that the two organizations are carrying out in the Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.

2. The UNFPA and IPPF capitalize on the special qualities each organization possesses to carry out activities relating to sexual and reproductive health and rights, family planning and women’s empowerment throughout the world. Japan has been supporting initiatives in these fields for approximately 50 years through contributions to the two organizations.

3. The provision of services relating to sexual and reproductive health and rights is essential for realizing universal health coverage (UHC), that ensures affordable access to basic health services for all whenever they need them throughout their lives, and this is stated clearly in the Basic Design for Peace and Health, Japan’s global health policy, and the G7 Ise-Shima Vision for Global Health (PDF), an official outcome document of the G7 Ise-Shima Summit under Japan’s chairmanship.

4. Japan will continue to proactively contribute to realizing sexual and reproductive health and rights and women’s empowerment through supporting the UNFPA and IPPF.