July 25, 2002)
The London-based International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), touted to be the world's largest non-governmental organisation in the field of sexual and reproductive health, is running short of funds.
This is because nations which used to support the federation, which preaches family planning and sustainable family development, are not providing the financial support.
"We are now running on US $ 50 million core funding annually and of this, US $ 15 million is spent on our secretariat in London. This is only half of what we used to get 10 years ago," said the federation's president, Angela Gomez, who hails from Columbia. (US $ 1 is equivalent to RM3.80) She told reporters this after the opening of the Inter-Regional Seminar on Sexual and Reproductive Health, here.
Gomez said that a decade ago several countries like the United States, Japan, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand used to give out grants to the federation due to its efforts in the field of family planning.
"But after some time, some of these countries have pulled out of giving us the funds...it (inflow of funds) has been descending and has affected our work," she added.
Asked how much was needed to fund the body, which has six regional offices worldwide, she said: "The sky is our limit, whatever or how much we can get is to help the world population."
IPPF, formed at the Third International Conference on Planned Parenthood in Bombay, India, in 1952, marks 50 years in this field this year with presence in more than 180 countries.
Gomez said the low income had resulted in the federation and its regional offices concentrating on fund-raising events to pay for the other important activities.
She said the diversification of the federation was solely to source for funds and that the situation had reached a stage where each regional office had now to look after its own welfare and not hope for the headquarters to chip in.
However, not all is lost as the federation had discovered that while the secretariat is running low on funds, all its regional offices are filling their coffers with grants from the local governments in countries where they operate.
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