Evidence from Ethiopia, Malawi and Rwanda shows that, with strong government commitment, significant gains can quickly be made in meeting women’s contraceptive needs.

In Rwanda, contraceptive use among married women increased from 9 per cent in 2005 to 44 per cent in 2010, a truly impressive achievement.

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If the commitments made at the London Summit are realised, and similar ones follow, this kind of progress could potentially become the norm, not the exception.

In sub-Saharan Africa alone, approximately 53 million women have an unmet need for modern contraceptives, meaning they want to avoid pregnancy but are not using a modern method.

At the London Summit on Family Planning on July 11, leaders from 18 African countries made unprecedented commitments — financially and politically — to strengthen their family planning programmes.

The summit, sponsored by the British government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with support from the United Nations Population Fund, (UNFPA) focused attention on the ongoing lack of family planning services for millions of women in the developing world and garnered extraordinary global support and resources to enable 120 million more women to use contraceptives by 2020.

The summit exceeded its target, raising pledges of $4.6 billion over eight years. The call to action came not a moment too soon. A new study by the Guttmacher Institute and UNFPA shows there has been minimal progress in addressing the contraceptive needs of African women in the past four years.

What’s worse, in the 39 poorest countries in the region, the number of women with an unmet need has actually increased since 2008.

Among all sexually active women of reproductive age in sub-Saharan Africa, 42 per cent want to avoid pregnancy but only 17 per cent are using a modern contraceptive.

Across the continent, progress in meeting the demand for contraceptive services has been uneven. The situation of married women — who represent the bulk of women with contraceptive needs — is telling.

Between 2008 and 2012, the proportion of married women using modern contraceptives increased from 20 per cent to 27 per cent in East Africa and from 54 per cent to 58 per cent in Southern Africa.

However, in West and Central Africa, there was no progress during that time, and contraceptive use among married women remains low at 9 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively.

Currently, approximately $381 million is spent each year on contraceptive care in sub-Saharan Africa. Expanding coverage to all women who want to use family planning but lack access to contraceptive services would require an increase of $2.3 billion.

This sounds like a lot, but this investment is modest in relation to the remarkable returns it would achieve. What’s more, it would actually lower total health-related costs.

Every dollar invested in family planning services in sub-Saharan Africa saves $1.30 on maternal and newborn healthcare—money that could be invested in other critical areas.

Now it is up to all of Africa’s leaders and the international community to do their part through a sustained commitment to improving the provision of contraceptive services.

Dr Babatunde Osotimehin is United Nations Under-Secretary-General and executive director of the United Nations Population Fund. Sharon L. Camp, president and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute, contributed to this article.