Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the finding that her Department's recent emphasis on family planning had generated significant shortterm results, but at the expense of a more balanced approach to building up health systems on page 24, paragraph 4.20 of the Independent Commission for Aid Impacts report of October 2018, Assessing DFID’s results in improving Maternal Health: An impact review, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of that finding.

We welcome the Independent Commission for Aid Impact’s impact review on DFID’s results in improving maternal health. The recommendations will feed into DFID’s strategic planning.

Increasing our family planning portfolio from 2013 was an important move – this was a neglected area with an enormous potential impact, not only for women’s lives but also to societies and economies. Our spending on maternal health was not, however, reduced during this time.