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16 October 2025 - The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has been tracking the developing situation in Brussels, where the Trump administration is holding over $9.7 million of U.S.-funded contraceptives set to be destroyed. In August, IPPF shared that 77 percent of these resources were destined for five countries in the African region, with 1,031,400 injectable contraceptives and 365,100 implants earmarked for Tanzania alone. These countries have specific rules for pharmaceutical imports, and as the U.S. government holds these resources, the risk of them becoming ineligible for import becomes imminent and critical. In addition to the cruel and ideological reasons for withholding these contraceptives, the U.S. government is exploiting import regulations to:Skirt around pressure from the Belgian government that would make incinerating these products in Belgium (Flanders) illegal while they are still eligible for import.Enact their initial plan to ensure these life-saving resources do not reach the communities who need them most by withholding them until they become ineligible for importation, and eligible for legal incineration.Use the import thresholds as a loophole to legally incinerate resources before their expiration dates in 2027 to 2029.“Destination countries, including Tanzania (the main recipient), as well as others such as Malawi, Bangladesh, DR Congo, Kenya, apply importation rules that limit entry to medicines with a specific percentage of remaining shelf life. In Tanzania, for example, products with an original shelf life of more than 24 months cannot be imported if less than 60% of the total shelf life remains,” says Marcel Van Valen, Head of Supply Chain at IPPF. “Unless a practical solution is found urgently, the U.S. government may exploit this gap, allowing the products to sit until they technically fall below import thresholds and then justifying their destruction under the pretext of regulatory compliance.”IPPF made continuous efforts to take ownership of these contraceptives and distribute them at no cost to the U.S. government, only to have offers denied. “There is no doubt we could have gone and collected the products in Belgium, processed them in the Netherlands and re-distributed them to where they were needed and/or destined for,” added Van Valen. “Since the start of the negotiations until this day, IPPF is in the position to release a budget (estimated to be max $1.5 million) to support the redistribution.”Instead, the Trump administration has chosen to pursue destroying these resources, a decision that will create catastrophe for women and girls in Africa. By Tanzania’s standards, some products are below threshold already and many others come close to it; the country would have to grant an exemption waiver to allow their importation at this stage.“Even if we were given the opportunity to push for a waiver to receive the contraceptives, because the Tanzanian government is restrictive around reproductive rights, we don’t know that such an exemption would be granted,” says Dr. Bakari Omary, Project Coordinator at Umati, IPPF's Member Association in Tanzania. “It’s urgent that we receive these resources before they become ineligible for import. The contraceptives being held represent 28% of the country’s total annual need, and not having them is already impacting clients’ reproductive health and family planning freedoms.”“African women have long led the fight for reproductive rights and freedoms. The deliberate destruction of contraceptives for the sake of a political agenda is an attempt to strip them of the very freedoms for which they’ve been global advocates,” says Mallah Tabot, SRHR Lead at IPPF Africa. “The Trump administration’s use of import rules to push the blame onto African countries is a waste of millions of dollars, a crisis for human rights, and a betrayal of women’s freedom globally.”Such a critical moment demands collective action. We call on the U.S. government to immediately distribute these resources to their destination countries, and on the European Union and European countries to champion SRHRJ by advocating for the release of the contraceptives. Just as the Belgian government has done in enforcing an incineration ban on these goods, leaders of the European Union have an opportunity to demonstrate their values in action. We call on the E.U. to rally Member States, negotiate with the U.S., and explore all legal and diplomatic avenues to release these contraceptives from their hold and ensure they reach their destination countries.For more information or to interview one of our staff, please contact media@ippf.org or +66628683089.

The unmet need for contraceptives is estimated to have soared to nearly 50% in some parts of Turkiye, including Hatay province, following the earthquakes on 6 February 2023. This is a worrying trend, as the unmet need had already been on the rise from 6% in 2013 to 12% in 2018 in Turkiye.  The Association of Public Health Specialists (HASUDER), IPPF’s local partner in Türkiye, is the only provider of contraception in some camps for internally-displaced persons (IDPs) following the devastating 7.8 and 7.6 earthquakes that killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey and displaced millions. Professor Bülent Kılıç, head of HASUDER, said that while government services are mandated to deliver contraceptive supplies to health clinics inside IDP camps, services have generally focused on pregnancy and birth services. He said: ”Physicians who provide contraceptive methods, including inserting intrauterine devices (IUDs) are rare or fully absent. There is no awareness about this service gap.” Kılıç also describes serious hygiene problems for women in the camps, where basic needs such as clean toilets and bathrooms are not being met. Kılıç continued: “We have seen that contraceptive services are only provided in gynaecology clinics in hospitals, and even then it is offered very little and only if requested. This issue is related to the government's perspective on women and women's rights.” HASUDER’s reproductive health unit, which was established with support from IPPF and Hatay Municipality in Lions and Mersin Municipality Tent City in Hatay, has been providing sexual and reproductive health services to 3,000 people since March 2023. These services include maternal and neonatal care, contraceptive care, safe abortion care, and counselling for sexual and gender-based violence. HASUDER is providing contraceptive methods including intrauterine devices, oral contraceptives and condoms, but reports that underwear, sanitary pads, birth control pills, emergency contraception pills and condoms are still among the most needed items for women. HASUDER has also reported a rise in unplanned pregnancies due to the dearth of contraceptives available. Violence against women and girls - already a serious issue in Turkey - is exacerbated in every humanitarian emergency, and persists in the IDP camps. IPPF estimates that 3.9 million women of reproductive age, over 175,000 pregnant women, and more than 1.2 million adolescent girls (aged 10-19) were affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye. We anticipate more than 8,700 currently pregnant women will experience delivery complications. For media enquiries, please contact media@ippf.org or Nerida Williams, Senior Humanitarian Communications Advisor, newilliams@ippf.org  About the International Planned Parenthood Federation The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is a global service provider and advocate of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.  For 70 years, IPPF, through its 118 Member Associations and seven partners, has delivered high-quality sexual and reproductive healthcare and helped advance sexual rights, especially for people with intersectional and diverse needs that are currently unmet. Our Member Associations and partners are independent organisations that are locally owned, which means the support and care they provide is informed by local expertise and context. We advocate for a world where people have the information they need to make informed decisions about their sexual health and bodies. We stand up and fight for sexual and reproductive rights and against those who seek to deny people their human right to bodily autonomy and freedom. We deliver care that is rooted in rights, respect, and dignity - no matter what.