Private sector partners commit billions to help advance ICPD agenda

NAIROBI, Kenya, 12 November 2019 - Private sector organizations including the Ford Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Philips, World Vision and many others announced today at the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 they will mobilize some $8 billion in combined new pledges to achieve zero preventable maternal deaths, zero unmet need for family planning, and zero gender-based violence and harmful practices by 2030.

A wide range of partners – from health care and technology companies to private foundations, international NGOs and sports leaders – have stepped up with commitments, through Every Woman Every Child, to advance women's, children’s and adolescents' health and well-being, including sexual and reproductive health and rights. 

Although the pledged sums are tremendous, the contributions of the private sector are not only financial. These partners are also bringing innovative solutions, creativity and other resources to the table.

"The private sector is indispensable to meeting the ‘three zeros’ of the Nairobi Summit," said Mariarosa Cutillo, head of UNFPA's Strategic Partnerships Branch. "Together, partners across sectors, from health care to technology as well as philanthropic foundations and civil society, have made inspiring commitments to the health and rights of women and girls.”

The largest single contribution is from World Vision, which promised to mobilize $7 billion over the next decade in support of programmes that support maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition. This is part of World Vision's commitment to the UN Secretary-General's Every Woman Every Child initiative.

Plan International will allocate $500 million to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights of girls and adolescents by 2025. Other major pledges include the Ford Foundation's commitment to spend $78.4 million over the next three years to address gender-based violence and support women’s empowerment, and Laerdal's $65 million pledge to reduce maternal and newborn mortality by 2030 (also as part of Every Woman Every Child). The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation committed $75 million to advance self-care in sexual and reproductive health.

Additional private sector partners that announced technical commitments in Nairobi are Philips, Johnson & Johnson Foundation, Maternity Foundation, Bayer, MSD for Mothers, BD and the Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Brazil.

Contacts
Eddie Wright
+1 917 831 2074
ewright@unfpa.org 

Adebayo Fayoyin
+27 79 517 0320
fayoyin@unfpa.org 

About the Nairobi Summit
The governments of Kenya and Denmark, and UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, have organized this high-level political summit, from 12-14 November 2019. The Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 aims to mobilize the political will and financial commitments we urgently need to finally and fully implement the Programme of Action agreed to by 179 governments in 1994 at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), and confirmed unanimously in a political declaration in 2019.