EU:The Government has objected to its European partners about support for a reproductive health and rights project in a new EU-Africa strategy.
It is concerned the "Maputo plan of action", a strategy recommending that African women should have access to reproductive healthcare and safe abortion services, might pave the way for EU financial support for the project.
At a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels this week, Irish diplomats requested that references to the project be deleted from a draft EU-Africa action plan to be agreed at a summit next month.
"The EU has established positions on sexual and reproductive health and rights matters," said an Irish spokeswoman, referring to an agreement not to fund abortion overseas. "The maintenance of these positions has been confirmed by all EU states."
But some EU states support the Maputo plan, which its proponents say should help to reduce the 700 maternal deaths that occur every day in Africa.
A compromise on the issue was agreed when Portugal, the current holder of the EU presidency, brokered a compromise on the text. The strategy will now clearly state that support for the implementation of the "Maputo plan of action" must be undertaken "within the context of EU policies". The Maputo plan was developed and agreed by African Union health ministers in 2006 but has largely failed to attract funding from international donors.
Leo Bryant, a spokesman for the British sexual health charity Marie Stopes, said the project was being ignored by donors despite the drastic need to cut maternal death rates in Africa. The new strategy and an accompanying action plan is expected to be published at an EU-Africa summit due to take place in Lisbon on December 8th-9th.