Beyond the Gaps Sustaining progress together

**Beyond the Gaps **Sustaining progress together

By Stephen Mupeta, UNFPA Regional Family Planning Specialist

When funding falters, progress can be fragile.

Across East and Southern Africa, governments, communities, and other development partners are stepping forward with innovation and even more determination to safeguard women’s health, autonomy, and futures.

Take Olivia, an 18-year-old in Zimbabwe. After a teenage pregnancy and a forced relationship, she found refuge in a safe space supported by UNFPA and local partners. There, she received food, shelter, life skills, and, most importantly, the courage to return home and rebuild her dreams. For girls like Olivia, such spaces are not just a one-off service, they are havens. They embody the principles of a human rights-based approach in these instances — offering dignity, participation, and non-discrimination. Governments are now exploring how to sustain these safe spaces even in times of uncertainty, recognizing that every girl has the right to protection, support, and choice.

Crisis to rights-based solutions

Her story reflects a larger truth. Reproductive agency is a fundamental human right, enshrined in international frameworks and national commitments, yet it remains out of reach for millions of women and girls worldwide.

Globally, 257 million women want to avoid or delay pregnancy but they are not using a safe, modern method of contraception. This is not only a regional challenge, but a universal one. In East and Southern Africa alone, nearly 49 million women of reproductive age want to avoid or delay pregnancy but face barriers in accessing contraception, which are rooted in poverty, stigma, myths and misconceptions, gender inequality, and various health systems challenges that facilitate exclusion.

A human rights-based approach to family planning demands more than access but rather, it demands equity. It means ensuring that services are available, accessible, acceptable, and of high quality for all, regardless of age, marital status, disability, or geographic location. It means empowering women and girls to make informed decisions about their bodies and futures, free from coercion or discrimination.

Contraceptives are a proven, life-saving intervention. In 2024 alone, contraceptives supported by UNFPA prevented 18 million unintended pregnancies, 7.5 million unsafe abortions, and 39,000 maternal deaths worldwide. The question is not whether the world can afford to fund reproductive health, it is whether we can afford not to. Every dollar invested in family planning saves three in maternal and newborn care. More than that, it opens doors to education, work, and dignity. Behind each number is a life saved, a future secured, a right vindicated, and the rebuilding of individuals, families, and communities.

However, when funding falters, health workers feel the strain. “I know the risks girls face such as unsafe abortions, early marriages, dropping out of school,” a midwife in rural Kenya said. “But when our shelves are empty, there is nothing I can do.” Empty shelves are not just a supply problem, they are a rights, futures, and survival issue. By securing health commodity supplies and strengthening local systems, such heartbreak can be prevented.

More than half of all abortions in developing countries are unsafe, leading to preventable maternal deaths and injuries. In East and Southern Africa, where health systems are often overstretched and underfunded, the consequences are especially concerning. A rights-based lens reminds us that every maternal death is not just a tragedy, it is a violation of the right to life and health.

Investing to sustain progress

Across the region, solutions are already taking shape, governments are allocating and utilizing significant domestic finances towards procurement of lifesaving reproductive health commodities and strengthening health systems, including supply chain management systems. Additionally, governments are scaling up community-based distribution of contraceptives, youth-led networks are breaking stigma and expanding access to HIV and reproductive health services, traditional leaderss are championing the end of child marriage, showing how cultural leadership can protect rather than limit girls’ rights, civil society organisations are advocating women’s access to human rights based contraceptive services. These efforts show the power of human rights and women-centred approaches where services respond to women’s own aspirations. This is whether that means saying yes to contraception, or not right now.

With additional investment such as dedicated budget lines for reproductive health commodities, innovative financing models, and stronger partnerships with civil society, including youth-led and women-led organizations that understand community needs from the inside out, the region can bridge existing gaps. These investments will help sustain momentum for stronger communities and systems that preserve and promote the health and wellbeing of women and girls.

These examples prove that with commitment and collaboration, progress continues. And this is where UNFPA’s role matters most. We convene partners, catalyze solutions, and ensure that decades of investment are not lost but strengthened.

We are grateful to all member states for their support, financial and moral support to promote women’s sexual and reproductive health rights. Each contribution, large or small, signals a shared commitment to rights and choices for all. As our new Executive Director Diene Keita reminds us, we must remain hopeful, grateful, and united. Funding levels may shift, but partnerships endure.