Aid for policies and actions on reproductive and sexual health and rights in developing countries

The committee adopted the report by Ulla SANDBAEK (EDD, DK) amending the proposal under the codecision procedure (1st reading). The main amendments were as follows: - the measures carried out under the regulation should be aimed at reducing the toll not only of maternal mortality but also of maternal morbidity, given that an estimated 50 m women a year are left with serious complications; - operations eligible for Community funding should target the poorest and most vulnerable populations in both rural and urban areas; - specific operations should include HIV/AIDS prevention and diagnosis; the provision of voluntary confidential counselling and testing; education programmes for young people highlighting the relationship between family planning, sexually-transmitted diseases and the impact of HIV/AIDS on partnerships; combating practices such as sexual violence, child marriages and early marriages; providing quality ante-natal care, care during childbirth and post-natal care; reducing the number of unsafe abortions by cutting unwanted pregnancies through better family planning; and training and equipping staff to manage under hygienic and safe conditions the complications resulting from unsafe abortion; - for the purposes of financial transparency, the Commission should be required to list in its annual report on EC development policy the sums of any contracts concluded under the regulation; - the total funding for the period from 2003 to 2006 should be EUR 73.95 million.�