The newly appointed executive director of the United Nations Population Fund has described a situation of injustice when it comes to women and girls’ access to reproductive health and rights, saying that their needs are being “relegated to the bottom of the heap.”

Dr. Natalia Kanem, who was promoted to the position talked to a small audience of stakeholders in London on Tuesday about changes to family planning policy in the United States. President Donald Trump defunded the UNFPA in April, depriving the organization of its second-largest donor, as had previously taken place under the administration of President George W Bush.

We really believe that in every part of the world family planning has shown itself as something that is normal and natural, in a country like the United States and in other places as well,” she said.

For countries seeking to tackle economic inequality, Kanem said, a good place to start is by addressing related inequalities, like reproductive health.

Read the full article by Jessica Abrahams about reproductive health from Devex International Development