In this Issue
2011 Family Planning Budget Request Largest EverPresident Obama’s budget proposal for foreign assistance programs in fiscal year 2011 is a major step forward in addressing the family planning needs of millions of women and men in developing nations and marks a continuation of the dramatic shift away from stagnant levels during the Bush administration. Although the federal budget was released on February 1st, final decisions on the funding for family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) were not made public until March 5th.
The Obama administration is proposing $715.7 million for bilateral and multilateral FP/RH assistance—a $67 million or a 10 percent increase above the $648.5 million that Congress appropriated for the current fiscal year. The proposed increase is especially significant in light of the difficult economic and budgetary climate. Click here to read more.
Ethiopia Congressional Study Tour PAI partnered with Pathfinder International in February to host a trip of Senate staff to see U.S. family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) programs on the ground in Ethiopia. PAI took staffers from the offices of Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), to better understand the demand for family planning and reproductive health services and supplies, as well as the centrality of U.S. family planning assistance to the socioeconomic development of Ethiopia and other developing countries. Senators Durbin and Lautenberg both serve on the Appropriations Committee, while Senator Shaheen is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.Click here to read more.
Reproductive Health and HIV Integration in ThailandIn February, Population Action International was invited by the International Planned Parenthood Federation’s South Asia Regional Office to hold the workshop, Momentum for Integration in South Asia: A Knowledge Sharing Conversation. The workshop focused on increasing regional capacity on sexual and reproductive health and HIV integration within the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Click here to read more.
Population Dynamics, Reproductive Health and Climate ChangeKaren Hardee, PAI’s Vice President of Research, presented PAI’s recent research on population and climate change at the International Policy Symposium on the Connection between Population Dynamics, Reproductive Health and Rights and Climate Change in London on March 1st. This meeting was organized by the British Medical Association, the Population and Sustainability Network, Commat (the Commonwealth Medical Trust) and Partners in Population and Development, in collaboration with a number of co-sponsors, including Population Action International. The participant list included ministers from three African countries (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) and three from the UK, which created an extraordinary opportunity to link research and programs with policy options and challenges. Click here to read more.
International Women's Day: Honor A Woman in Your LifeOn March 8, Population Action International commemorated International Women's Day, celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. For forty-five years, PAI has helped women around the world achieve healthy lives by working to ensure that every person has the right and access to sexual and reproductive health. Providing modern contraception to the more than 215 million women who want but don’t have access to family planning and reproductive health services would avert 640,000 newborn deaths and 150,000 maternal deaths annually.
Consider a donation to PAI in honor of a woman in your life. With your help, we will ensure a healthier tomorrow for millions of women and their families who depend upon our success.
By Suzanne Ehlers, Interim President
Originally published on the Huffington Post
Canada did its best this week to act like George W. Bush. The government excluded family planning from a new maternal health initiative for developing countries it planned to launch at the G8 meeting in June. Like a minority in our country, their Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon claimed that access to contraception is irrelevant to his goal of saving mothers and infants. After a quick public backlash, he edited his talking points, but still refused to acknowledge that family planning saves lives. Click here to read more.
