PIP: This article discusses funding of population programs that support the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development's Plan of Action. The Plan of Action calls for a quadrupling of annual financial commitments for population programs to $17 billion by the year 2000 and $22 billion by 2015. The increased expenditures would cover the increased demand for services from unmet need and population growth. Donor countries are expected to increase their share from the current 25% to about 33%, or $5.7 billion by the year 2000. The estimates are in 1993 constant dollars. $17 billion is less than the $40 billion that is spent worldwide on playing golf. During 1993-94, general donor support increased to $1.2 billion. Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States increased their support. The United States doubled its support for population programs during 1992-95 to $583 million. During 1996-97 the US Congress cut funding back to the 1995 level. France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Austria have lagged in support for population programs in the present and the past. Equal burden sharing would require the US to increase funding to $1.9 billion. Developed country assistance declined to the lowest share of combined gross national product since 1970. This shifts the burden to multilateral sources. The European Union is committed to increasing its funding, and the World Bank increased funding for population and reproductive health to about $600 million in 1996 from $424 million in 1994. Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey spent 85% of all government expenditures on family planning in developing countries. External donors in Africa are the main support of family planning. Private consumers in Latin America pay most of the costs of family planning. External assistance will be needed for some time.