The European Commission announced new support for family planning in developing countries. The new €23 million package will form part of the commitment reached at a family planning summit organised by the UK Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The European Commission pledge contributes to the summit's goal of providing family planning services to an additional 120 million women by 2020 in the poorest developing countries.

The Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, announced a new €23 million package from EU funds that will form part of the commitment reached at a family planning summit organised by the UK Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in partnership with UNFPA, partner country national governments, donors, civil society, the private sector and the research and development community. Already in 2010, family planning was in the agenda of the main world donors.

€8 million of the funding will go towards the UN Family Planning Agency and will help some of the world's poorest countries to provide specific support to the areas of family planning where it is most needed. Another €15 million will be made available for NGOs and other civil society groups to promote family planning services. This will also help to inform people about the best choices for family planning and how and where to obtain them and raise awareness on the dangers of using unsafe methods that may harm girls' and women's health.

Mr Piebalgs stressed that helping to provide family planning services is one of the best investments that a country can make into its future. He also added that it is about promoting gender equality and women's rights; but it is also about protecting maternal and child health. The Commission also announced that the funding will also contribute to the summit's goal of providing family planning services to an additional 120 million women by 2020 in the poorest developing countries.