Bill and Melinda Gates Give $10 Million For Collaborative Research Program On Reproductive Health

GENEVA -- The William H. Gates Foundation, co-founded by Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates, has awarded a grant of US$10 million to the UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP)—a global research programme on reproductive health located at WHO Headquarters in Geneva. The grant will be paid in five annual installments of two million dollars each.

"This is the first time that our Programme has received a grant of this magnitude from a private foundation", said Dr Paul Van Look, Director, HRP. He added, "We will use this money to support research activities of the Programme, particularly studies on men's responsibility and related cross-cutting issues in sexual and reproductive health."

HRP is almost entirely funded through voluntary contributions. It is the only research programme in the United Nations system exclusively devoted to research on sexual and reproductive health, with emphasis on the needs of developing countries.

HRP's current research mandate is based on the priorities identified in sexual and reproductive health at the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, Egypt, 1994) and the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, China, 1995).

HRP's research agenda includes fertility regulation, maternal health, reproductive tract infections (including cervical cancer) and planning and programming in reproductive health. The Programme also conducts research on aspects of adolescent health and harmful reproductive health practices.

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