SheDecides at FFD4: Financing Our Future, Investing in SRHR | SheDecides

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SheDecides at FFD4: Financing Our Future, Investing in SRHR

8th August 2025

In early July , SheDecides joined global leaders in Seville, Spain, for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4). The conference served as a vital platform to reshape how we finance global development, especially crucial investments needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

The FFD conferences are unique – they’re the only space where governments, international organisations, financial institutions, businesses, civil society, and the UN system come together at the highest levels to consider what financial solutions are needed to deliver on the joint global agenda and commitments – and they happen only every ten years .

Financing Our Future: The Economic Case for SRHR

A key highlight of SheDecides’ participation was co-hosting a side event titled “Financing Our Future: The Economic Case for SRHR.” It was led and organised by FP2030, and done in partnership with the Governments of Colombia and Norway, Guttmacher Institute, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)/Countdown 2030 Europe, Organon, PMNCH, United Nations Foundation, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Universal Access Project.

Speakers spoke out for smart and  sustained investment in gender equality and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). They explored diverse solutions – tax reform, domestic resourcing and new philanthropy, but they all shared the same core message:  investing isn’t just the right thing to do morally,  it is fundamental to achieving sustainable development and meeting the targets by 2030.

SheDecides Executive Director, Karin Nilsson, moderated the event, guiding the discussion to shed light on new, emerging and innovative solutions that will enable us to deliver on the global agenda.

Key Insights from the Panel:

  • Dr Samukeliso Dube, Executive Director, FP2030 opened the panel and welcomed all attendees, passionately reminding the audience: “We can go far when we finance family planning and contraception”
  • Lisetta Trebbi, Acting Director General of NORAD stated: “ Norway is and will remain firmly committed to gender equality, comprehensive SRHR and global health… SRHR are not optional add ons they are essential to any serious development agenda. Every $1 invested in family planning yields up to $8.40 in societal and economic benefits.”
  • Karin Nisson, Executive Director, SheDecides said: “The SDGs will not be achieved without SRHR, it’s as simple as that. If people don’t have the choice, the support and right to live healthy lives, there is no sustainable development.”
  • Onikepe Owolabi, from Guttmacher Institute highlighted the undeniable economic benefits of investing in SRHR, providing a compelling case for its inclusion in national and international budgets. Presenting powerful data from their “Adding It Up” Model, they revealed that “For every $1 spent on contraceptive services beyond current levels, we could save an estimated $2.48 to $3.46 in the cost of maternal, newborn, and abortion care. “
  • Annika Otterstedt, Assistant Director General, Sida reinforced the global commitment to these crucial investments: “These topics are at the top of our list, both for the Swedish Government and for Sida, and I’m pleased to share that SRHR has increased funding.”
  • Peter Barton, Gates Foundation said:  “We need to bring new money into the sector. Both new money within development, so: mobilizing domestic resources, leveraging the World Bank and others better, making sure donors are prioritising family planning etc. But also new money outside the sector. What are the news sources we can tap into?….And then there is “better money” – which is about making every dollar go further.”

Key Takeaways 

In a rapidly changing multilateral system and amidst conversations of what a new financial architecture should look like, the conference was a powerful reminder that there are solutions to ODA shortages, and that investing in SRHR is not just a health issue, but an economic imperative and a cornerstone of global sustainable development. 

SheDecides remains committed to speaking out and finding new ways to secure essential investments as we work towards a future where every woman, girl and young person, in all their diversity can decide about her body, her life, and her future.

See photos from the panel event here – with thanks to FP2030.