This feature-length documentary presents the African side of the story of enthusiastic western donors and the impact on the African recipients of their 'gifts'
"The film amplifies the African voices that have never been heard before."
A ground-breaking documentary by Nigerian pro-life leader Obianuju Ekeocha is now available to stream and download online.
Strings Attached, which had its UK premiere at an event in the House of Commons hosted by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, exposes how UK overseas aid is being used to fund a booming abortion industry in Africa while destroying the lives of women and young girls as well as killing their unborn babies.
It follows what happens to the millions of pounds of foreign aid given by Western donors, and the UK Government in particular, to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in Africa, and features interviews with women who have had their lives devastated by the pushing of abortion and contraceptive devices by organisations such as Marie Stopes.
Impact of UK aid
The UK Government gave MSI £44 million in 2017, and recently pledged another £200 million for family planning in Africa and Asia. Since then, both Kenya and Niger have taken action against the abortion giant for carrying out illegal abortions. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact last year criticised DFID for focusing on family planning at the expense of maternal health.
Antonia Tully, SPUC’s campaign director said: "We should be asking serious questions about why more than £1 billion has been earmarked by the UK government for the support and promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in countries like Africa. Abortion is not a solution to poverty.
"Since 2017 the UK government has been committed to donating £225 million every year to developing countries until 2022 for reproductive health services - which includes contraception and abortions. The human costs are catastrophic."
Neo-colonialism is destroying Africa
Executive producer Obianuju Ekeocha, who is the founder of Culture of Life Africa, said at the launch: "This feature-length documentary presents the African side of the story of enthusiastic western donors and the impact on the African recipients of their 'gifts'. We expose how western funding to abortion-providers like Marie Stopes International (MSI), is undermining traditional African values which respect human life.
"No-one ever bothers to follow the trail of the funding to know where: and how it ends up, or to know how the individual lives of African women in cities and villages alike are affected by it."
Ms Ekeocha continued, "At the centre of this story is a British reproductive health organisation and a regular recipient of UK government funding, whose practices in some of the African countries have devastated the lives of many African women and girls, everything from life-altering side effects of donor-provided 'free' contraceptives to alleged illegal abortion practices."
She concluded: "The film amplifies the African voices that have never been heard before, with the hope that the world will finally listen to them, hear their experiences, share in their sorrows and take action to end this form of neo-colonialism that is destroying lives in Africa under the guise of 'sexual and reproductive health and rights'."
News in brief: