Funding Common Ground: Cost Estimates for International Reproductive Health

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994 estimated the financial resource requirements to achieve universal access to a range of population-related programs including family planning and reproductive health. Nearly fifteen years after the estimates were produced, a consensus developed among technical experts and advocacy groups that the 1994 cost estimates were out of date, and therefore undermining their relevance for advocacy.

In response to pressure, UNFPA developed new cost estimates of the resources required to meet the ICPD goals, and released updated cost estimates in 2009. However, preliminary analysis suggests that while the new UNFPA cost estimates are an important step towards uncovering the financial obligations needed to meet the ICPD goals, in their current form they are not useful for advocacy. For instance, the family planning and maternal health components separate-out health systems and program costs from direct service costs, thus seemingly underestimating the costs of family planning and maternal health.

This paper analyzes the strengths and limitations of the new UNFPA cost estimates and makes suggestions on how to address the limitations of the estimates to better reflect advocacy needs. This is achieved through a detailed analysis of the methodology, costed interventions, and assumptions underlying the UNFPA costing and other estimates.

The ultimate goal of this analysis is to guide the family planning and reproductive health advocacy community on how to effectively use the UNFPA numbers, and unite the global community around one estimate of resource needs.