Funding for Reproductive Health in Conflict and Post-Conflict Countries: A Familiar Story of Inequity and Insufficient Data

Reproductive health (RH) and related needs during conflict and post-conflict situations are massive, acute, and complex to meet [1–4]. RH indicators for conflictaffected and post-conflict countries are worse than for least-developed countries (LDCs) not directly affected by conflict. Despite studies showing that funding for sexual and reproductive health programmes have consistently not met agreed-upon financial targets, little is known about the actual RH funding required to meet these needs in conflictaffected countries. A new study by Preeti Patel and colleagues published in this issue of PLoS Medicine addresses this knowledge gap [5]. This study is important because it attempts to quantify the direct and indirect RH disbursements to conflict-affected countries compared with overall official development assistance (ODA) by country, donor, and different RH activities. It also examines RH disbursements and ODA to non-conflict-affected LDCs.