KARACHI, Oct 12: The Aman Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have recently signed a five-year framework agreement, pledging to invest $5 million each to address the gaps in reproductive health and family planning services in Pakistan.

The organisations will also explore further areas for collaboration to advance global health and development, according to a press release.

Arif Naqvi and Bill Gates signed the agreement in Dubai on behalf of their respective organisations.

“This is a significant co-investment partnership for our foundation which leverages Aman’s on-the-ground knowledge in family planning and maternal and child health in Pakistan.

“It is also an example of the kind of smart partnerships that hold huge promise for the future. Investments in family planning have a transformational effect on the health and wealth of nations,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Aman Foundation Chairman Arif Naqvi said: “We will benefit from mutual learning, co-funding opportunities and the expertise of both an international and local civil society. The Aman Foundation’s innovative work in the health and education sectors will improve maternal and child health and family planning outcomes among women in under-served populations and specifically communities of Karachi.”

It is noteworthy that more than 200 million women in the developing countries lack access to contraceptives, information and health services, which lead to complications in pregnancy and childbirth.

In Pakistan, the maternal mortality rate is currently 276 per 100,000, and infant mortality at birth stands at 62 deaths per 1,000 live births.

The Aman Foundation also participated in the London Family Planning Summit, which was organised by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the British government and UNFPA. The aim of the summit was to “mobilise global policy, financing, commodity and service delivery commitments to support the rights of an additional 120 million women and girls in the world’s poorest countries to use contraceptive information, services and supplies, without coercion or discrimination, by 2020”.

At the event, Aman Foundation was recognised as the only private organisation from the developing world to have committed substantial funds towards this cause. The London Family Planning Summit 2012 and Karachi Declaration 2009 directly informed this partnership in the areas of family health, the press release added.