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Benin's Family Planning Budget Commitments
To support the achievement of its FP2020 commitments, the government of Benin pledged to progressively increase the budget allocation for contraceptive purchase by 2018 to 250 million West African CFA francs (FCFA).
According to the budget tracking data collected by PAI’s partners in Benin — Groupe de Recherche, d’Action et de Formation en Epidémiologie et en Développement (GRAFED) and Social Watch Benin — the government allocated FCFA 112 million for contraceptive purchase in fiscal year (FY) 2018, failing to reach the goal of FCFA 250 million. However, the government exceeded this goal in FY 2020 with an allocation of FCFA 280.5 million for contraceptive purchase.
Given the impact of COVID-19 on donor resources for family planning (FP) and the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office aid cuts, domestic resource mobilization for FP has become more important than ever. In late 2021, Benin published its new FP2030 country commitments, including a financial commitment to increasing the contraceptives allocation by 10% each year to reach $403 million in 2026. GRAFED participated in the committee that developed the commitments. Benin has a current costed implementation plan, the Plan d’Action National Budgetisé pour la Planification Familiale 2019-2023 au Benin. Both provide details on the government’s plans for increasing and spending domestic resources on FP supplies and services.
Benin’s Performance on the FY 2020 FP Budget Scorecard
Developed by GRAFED and Social Watch Benin, in collaboration with PAI, this scorecard is an advocacy tool highlighting the findings of the organizations’ FP budget tracking using the Common Framework, a set of indicators used for monitoring government spending on FP. In addition to data on indicators, the scorecard evaluates the transparency of FP budget data. The scorecard is a product of PAI’s Government Accountability for Family Planning Budgets initiative.
The government of Benin is commended for allocating 31% of the contraceptives funding need and 41% of the FP programs funding need, which is by far the highest level of domestic FP programs funding among the seven countries where PAI partners tracked FP budgets and produced scorecards. The government is also commended for making the Ministry of Health budget and quarterly budget execution reports publicly available on the website of the Directorate-General of the Budget.
Recommendations to strengthen government ownership of Benin’s FP and to improve the transparency of FP budget data include:
- Increase the annual budget for contraceptive commodities by 10% from the FCFA 250 million allocated in FY 2019, in order to increase the state’s contribution to FCFA 403 million in FY 2026 (an FP2030 commitment).
- Create dedicated budget lines for FP programs and the purchase of contraceptives in the health sector budget.
- In the MoH budget execution report, including the details of all FP resources allocated and disbursed during the period covered by the report.
- Make data on FP-related disbursements and expenditures publicly available on the MoH website.
Other Country Scorecards
