Rich nations and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said they had pledged more than 2.6 billion dollars towards family planning in developing countries at a summit in London on Wednesday.

The aim of the summit was to secure new funding pledges to give an additional 120 million women and girls access to contraception by 2020. "We exceeded our target," British International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell told the summit, which drew more than 150 leaders from donor and developing countries, international agencies and the private sector.