By Suzanne Ehlers and Elizabeth Becker

Originally published on Grist.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced an important new climate change financing group last week, but out of the 19 people named, no women were included. This is unfortunate because women will bear the brunt of the effects of climate change and are key to any climate solutions. 

Originally posted on the Huffington Post

A colleague on maternity leave recently sent an e-mail saying what an incredible experience pregnancy is and how she can't help thinking of the millions of women who go through it without the support we take for granted in the U.S. "Here I am focusing on tummy time and music groups; talk about perspective when you consider that more than half a million women die every year during pregnancy and childbirth because they don't have access to the simplest of health services and supplies."

As the Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) convenes in Copenhagen for its 15th  meeting, all eyes are  on targets to reduce carbon emissions.  At the same time, the irony of climate change is that people in countries that have had the least to do with growing emissions are likely to experience the greatest difficulties in adapting to the impacts of climate change.  Discussions and agreements in Copenhagen will include how best to plan for and fund long term adaptation strategies for countries affected by changes in climate.

As countries negotiate climate change solutions in Copenhagen, family planning and reproductive health should be among the adaption strategies on the table. At the same time, the world should not shy away from addressing population as a factor related to carbon emissions. Over 200 million women around the world are having more children than they say they want to have, partly because they do not have access to contraception. Giving women the means to have the number of children they prefer will help them and their families prosper, which is good for women, for the environment and for climate change.

Originally published on RH Reality Check

The old adage, think globally and act locally, should be heeded in discussing solutions to climate change.  While changes in industrialized country consumption patterns and technological solutions are needed to help stop the flow of dangerous greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and rendering the planet hotter and hotter, they will be insufficient to address the other side of climate change - helping the most vulnerable people adapt to its effects.  Adaptation requires community-based and integrated approaches to help people cope.   Involving communities and devising solutions based on local environmental and social conditions is the only sustainable approach.

Originally published in The New Security Beat

In a meeting with business leaders in Lahore in late October, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pointedly warned of the potential economic impacts of Pakistan's rapidly growing population: "There has to be...in any plan for your own economic future, a hard look at where you're going to get the resources to meet these needs. You do have somewhere between 170 and 180 million people. Your population is projected to be about 300 million as the current birth rates, which are among the highest in the world, continue," she said.

by Suzanne Ehlers

The 5th Asia and Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSHR) is currently underway in Beijing, China. Today, I am moderating a session co-hosted by the Asia Pacific Alliance (APA) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The session, titled Meet the Donors, explored resource mobilization and Millennium Development Goal 5 (improving maternal health) through the lens of a theme raised in the day's opening sessions: In a climate of continuing financial gloom, how is it that an intervention as cost effective as family planning and reproductive health is still having difficulty mobilizing adequate resources?

Female Genital Mutilation: Three Generations Later has won an honorable mention in Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn's Half the Sky Contest! The blog was selected from more than 700 entries and will be published on the New York Times website.

Esraa Bani is the Advocacy Assistant in the International Advocacy and U.S. Government Relations departments of Population Action International.

A little four year old lay in bed wrapped in blankets. Her teeth were chattering and her body was warm with fever because she lost too much blood. She laid still in her bed as tears rolled down her face. Days passed by without her sleeping or eating because the pain was too much for her frail body to bear.

by Kathleen Mogelgaard and Karen Hardee

This is a big week in the march towards the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, where world leaders are expected to hammer out a new global treaty to address the problem. Today, President Obama and other heads of state will meet in New York with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to discuss climate change; the subject is also likely to be high on the agenda at the G20 meetings in Pittsburgh later this week.

Much of the focus this week and leading up to the meeting in Copenhagen in December is on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change: who should have to cut, by how much, and in what time frame. We hear a lot about cap and trade, clean energy, promoting energy efficiency, and other technological solutions. For years, reducing emissions has been the focus of efforts to address climate change. But we know now that reducing emissions is not enough: millions of lives are being upended by the effects of changes in climate - food scarcity, water scarcity, vulnerability to natural disasters and infectious diseases, and population displacement.  Women and children are the most vulnerable groups to climate change. 

Kirana Bammarito is PAI's Communications Intern. She is a recent graduate of American University.

August 12 will mark the tenth International Youth Day as commemorated by the United Nations. In the United States, youth triumphs and tragedies alike have occurred during the past year. November saw the exciting, social-media-driven election of President Barack Obama with July revealing the dismaying, but not surprising, report that declining teen pregnancy and STI rates either stalled or reversed during the Bush years. Rates in the South, where authorities tout abstinence and religion as perfect sex education, are of course, the highest.

Kame Westerman is PAI's Climate Change Intern. She is a current graduate student in Sustainable Development & Conservation Biology at the University of Maryland.

As an environment volunteer with the Peace Corps, I was given the task of visiting outlying villages and promoting sustainable agricultural techniques - the hope being that with increased agricultural efficiency and sustainability, there would be less need to harvest from the surrounding forests.  Yet as I quickly came to understand, sustainable agricultural techniques are a moot point if the regions' unsustainable fertility rate of just over five children per woman continues.

Gabrielle Stopper, Resource Development Intern. She is a recent graduate of George Washington University.

Today marks World Youth Day and a time to celebrate the promise that comes with new generations.  Youth bring new ideas, new understanding, and new methods to achieve what was once thought impossible.  Walking around Washington DC during the summer, the streets swarming with interns, it is clear how truly exciting the future will be.  As a woman in my twenties, having attended college in DC, I have been privileged to watch and become part of the reproductive health movement, though this unique city was not what led me there.   My own youthful drive and need to question during high school fueled my first exposure to the field. 

Published in Grist

It's the fourth day of climate negotiations here in Bonn, and at 4:30 in the afternoon, there is a lull in the action before the start of early evening "contact groups" - official meetings of negotiators that are sometimes open to observers. Looking for a quiet place to sit down with my laptop, I have landed in the main plenary hall, sitting in the seat with a placard that reads "GEF" (Global Environment Facility, the agency charged with managing a portion of funds for international adaptation efforts). Hopefully no one will mind my brief trespass.

Originally published on Grist

Kathleen Mogelgaard is Senior Program Manager of the Population and Climate Change Program at Population Action International.

At the opening of the international climate change talks in Bonn, Germany, today, representatives from governments around the world shared their opinions on a newly released draft of a global climate treaty that will be debated and (perhaps) finalized when they meet again in Copenhagen in December.

First published on RH Reality Check

"Canada has pulled away from Africa," remarked Canadian MP Dr. Keith Martin during the House of Parliament screening of The Silent Partner: HIV in Marriage in Ottawa, "and it is appalling."  Though it was buried beneath Canadian coverage of H1N1, the Conservative Canadian government quietly announced that it would slash funding for Canadian International Development Agency (also known as CIDA) programs "that don't align with government priorities."  

Originally published in The Huffington Post

Have you seen the ads? They seem to be everywhere -- from the Washington Metro system's billboards, to the New Yorker and Roll Call.

"9 billion people to feed. A changing climate. NOW WHAT?"

While focused on biotechnology, the ad (sponsored by Monsanto) does point to a key challenge in the years ahead: namely, the need to double agricultural output by 2050 to feed a rapidly growing world.

by Suzanna Dennis & Susan Anderson

Writing from the United Nations

"I am honored to be here today to express the renewed and deep commitment of the United States Government to the goals and aspirations of the ICPD Program of Action." With these words, Margaret Pollack, head of the US Delegation to the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD) ushered in a new era of US engagement on reproductive rights at the UN. The US CPD statement is another signal of the new course the Obama Administration is steering America's policy on reproductive health. Finally we are heading in the right direction again.

Crossposted from the Huffington Post

Monrovia, Liberia, March 7, 2009. The "International Colloquium on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security 2009" is about to get started. Presidents Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia) - The first woman president in Africa! - and Tarja Halonen (Finland) are hosting us. It's International Women's day tomorrow. This is a good place to spend it. Even sitting in my warm clothes from cold USA weather (luggage still in transit) and a bit sticky in this tropical weather, I'm nonetheless excited, expectant and hopeful for the two days ahead. About 500 of us are sitting in the middle of the sunny football field. There is no convention hall in Monrovia - this stadium works well, has nice rooms for breakout sessions and safety barriers to protect the four Heads of State here. We don't notice the distant empty stadium seats surrounding us. We're enjoying the shade created by the attractive thatched roof of palm leaves with bamboo poles - creating an "open air tent," the plastic chairs are comfortable, the music is fun. We're waiting for the Heads of State to arrive. One organizer tells us that there were no tents big enough in Liberia for this event - it was a woman's ingenuity that came up with our protective and sweet smelling roof of palm leaves. By the end of this colloquium, I realize not much stops Liberian woman and the good men that work by their side.

"Pinch the tip of the condom and gently roll it down!" exclaimed the school nurse as she demonstrated how to put on a condom with a banana to my seventh grade co-ed health class.  She spoke with so much enthusiasm that I thought perhaps she had momentarily transformed into a six-year old at her own birthday party.  The entire classroom was silent with embarrassment -- consisting of being uncomfortable with the topic at hand and the performance on display.  Watching Mrs. Robinson's demonstration was like a train wreck, something horrific that compelled you to keep watching, unable to turn away.  The vision of the Juliet Louis Dreyfus look-alike with her banana is forever imprinted in my brain, for better or worse.

On a recent visit to Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana's (PPAG) Youth Center, I couldn't help but reflect on my own experience learning about the birds and the bees.  I found myself wishing my sex education experience would have been closer to the youth friendly services offered by the Youth Center rather than the banana experience I received. 

The world premiere of "The Silent Partner: HIV in Marriage" in Nairobi, Kenya yesterday drew a crowd of 131 attendees, plus 39 members of the media. The event was held in a lovely room in the City Centre's Nairobi Hilton, and was sponsored by The Centre for the Study of Adolescence (CSA) and Population Action International (PAI).

Participants included representatives from Pathfinder International, Men for Gender Equity Now (MEGEN), Kenya's National AIDS Coordination Council and the film's stars and director, Nathan Golon.

Thailand has a rich and colorful history, but perhaps its most interesting success is its effective response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic over the past 20 years. Thailand effectively mobilized an appropriate response to the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic of the early 1990's, with significant political support and financial backing committed by the government. Advocates launched a successful public awareness and behavior change campaign to inform and enhance public knowledge about the spread of the HIV virus and how to protect themselves.

Spearheaded by one of the most famous AIDS activists in the world and a national hero in Thailand, Mechai Viravaidya (also known as "the Condom King"), thorough his organization the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) initiated a nationwide community-driven response, involving government officials and health ministers, schoolteachers, street vendors, religious leaders and taxi drivers to promote condoms as a lifesaving vehicle to prevent the spread of HIV infections in Thailand. A series of radio and television ads about using condoms aired every hour and comprehensive sexual education about HIV/AIDS was launched in schools to help spread the message.

One of the unique features of the Asia Pacific Alliance (APA) is that it brings together reproductive health (RH), family planning (FP), development and environment nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). We in the movement know that all of our activities are linked and mutually reinforcing, but a platform such as APA holds our feet to the fire in terms of active and meaningful collaboration.

Another aspect of APA is that official development assistance (ODA) agencies and other donors, such as private foundations, are invited to the table as members. APA aims to provide an environment for donors whereby they can learn from one another both best practices and lessons learned -- from the Australian Government's overseas aid program (AusAID), to Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA), Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), New Zealand's International Aid & Development Agency (NZAID), the newly merged Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), along with U.S. foundations such as The David & Lucile Packard Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Additionally, APA hopes to provide a forum for NGOs and civil society to engage with the ODAs/donors investing in their region, to improve communication and understanding of the important role played by the other.

The Asia Pacific Alliance (APA) is hosting its annual meeting in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. An appropriate location, given the theme of this year's meeting, Refugees and Migrants and their access to Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Conference attendees heard first from fellow APA members, Planned Parenthood Association of Thailand (PPAT) and Population and Community Development Association (PDA), who introduced the migrant and refugee situation through their experiences.

Next, advocates from the Mobile Obstetric Maternal Health Workers (MOM) Project, which delivers maternal health services among internally displaced populations in Eastern Burma; Friends International, which works with street children; the Adolescent Reproductive Health Network on the Thai/Myanmar border; and China Youth Network/Youth Coalition each shared their organization's work with migrant and refugee populations.

Suzanne Ehlers is Vice President for International Advocacy at PAI.

Thailand has been in the international news this last week, as protests against the current Prime Minister's administration broke out in the streets of Bangkok. Here in the north, in the city of Chiang Mai, the annual meetings of the Asia Pacific Alliance (APA) have proceeded without disruption, although the many global examples of political uncertainty and instability, as well as financial collapse and fragility, are heavy on the minds of advocates gathered here.

It is a challenging time to be advocating for increased resources to foreign assistance budgets, much less reproductive health and family planning programs. But that is what APA was created to do: bring together population, reproductive health, development and environment nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from six member countries -- Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Thailand, Australia, and Canada -- and promote and support collaborative advocacy to advance the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)'s Programme of Action and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Official Development Assistance (ODA) agencies in each of these donor countries are also encouraged to be a part of APA's membership, and organizations like PAI are fortunate to be invited to the table as partners.

By Emily Barcklow, Projects Coordinator, and María Eugenia Romero, Executive Director, at Equidad de Género: Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia.

A little over a month ago, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled in favor of the constitutionality of the abortion law reform approved by the Mexico City Legislative Assembly on April 24, 2007.

This ruling not only ensures the continuation of safe and legal abortion care up to 12 weeks of gestation for residents of Mexico's capital city, but it also sets the groundwork for replicating this landmark reform in other states.

The law that was passed last year in Mexico City decriminalized abortion up to 12 weeks of gestation and obligated the Mexico City government to implement comprehensive policies and actions that promote sexual and reproductive health and rights. Prior to this reform, abortion was only permitted in case of rape, congenital malformations, non-consensual artificial insemination and in case of risk to the women's health. In addition, women were not penalized for accidental pregnancy loss.