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What You Need to Know to Apply for U.S. Government Funding for Community-Based Projects Linking Reproductive Health and Natural Resource Management
February 1, 2007
Since 2001, the U.S. Congress has encouraged the U.S. Agency for International Development USAID, the agency that dispenses foreign development assistance to implement family planning and related reproductive health programs in areas where biological diversity is threatened and where species are endangered. Congress has never specified a funding level for these activities, which are supported by funds appropriated for international family planning programs, amounting to more than US$400 million annually in recent years. Over the past few years the agency has allocated between $1 million and $2 million annually to fund such projects and to explore the implications of the population-environment linkage as it applies to the conservation of critical ecosystems and the biodiversity they shelter.
Abstaining from Reality - U.S. Restrictions on HIV Prevention
February 1, 2007
Filmed in Kenya and Uganda, this 9-minute documentary provides a snapshot of the Bush administrationís abstinence-only approach to HIV prevention as part of its global HIV/AIDS assistance. Abstaining from Reality examines how these ideologically-driven programs are actually endangering the lives of the people theyíre supposed to be protecting. This policy is disconnected from the reality of the lives of women and young people, who are disproportionately affected by the epidemic. The film urges a balanced, comprehensive approach to preventing HIV infections by providing full and accurate information and a range of services that empower individuals to make informed decisions.
What You Need to Know About the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
February 1, 2007
The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is a five year, US$15 billion initiative to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Unfortunately, this assistance comes with significant restrictions on how the money is spent, undermining the public health impact of the funds.
Policy Empowers - Condom Use Among Sex Workers in the Dominican Republic
January 1, 2007
HIV prevention has long been approached at the level of individual behaviors, operating to some extent under the assumption that behavior is determined by a person's conscious decisions. However, a paradigm shift toward considering the physical and social environments in which individual HIV risk behavior takes place is gradually gaining momentum. These structural factors-whether political, economic or cultural-may directly or indirectly affect an individual's ability to avoid exposure to HIV.1 The Dominican Republic offers an example of this progression from successful individual HIV behavioral interventions among sex workers, toward broader community approaches and policy initiatives.
Uncharted Waters - The Impact of U.S. Policy in Vietnam
December 1, 2006
Vietnam-a vibrant country of 84 million people-is experiencing rapid economic growth and unprecedented societal change ushered in by globalization. This is posing interesting possibilities and challenges for U.S. assistance and policy. In June 2004, the Bush Administration named Vietnam the fifteenth focus country under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Vietnam is the sole PEPFAR focus country in Asia, with twelve in Africa and two in Latin America and the Caribbean. The HIV/AIDS epidemic here differs greatly from that of its African counterparts: HIV/AIDS prevalence is quite low and is concentrated among populations which engage in high risk behaviors.
Demographic Development - Reversing Course?
November 1, 2006
With the largest population in Africa, Nigeria's political and economic developments reverberate across the continent. Nigeria chairs the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and is the eighth largest oil exporting country in the world. More than 40 percent of the region's gross domestic product is accounted for by Nigeria's economy, and the petroleum industry is responsible for about two-thirds of national revenue and a great deal of international interest in the country. Yet the government maintains a delicate hold on democracy, and the country has recently experienced political instability. Throughout 2006, militant rebels angry about the distribution of
oil revenue have conducted a series of attacks against the industry, including kidnapping foreign workers, which resulted in the country's petroleum output dropping by 25 percent.
What Would Have Been: Exploring Counterfactuals in Demography and Health
October 1, 2006
Whatever one's view about population as an issue, few people fervently wish the world were home to a lot more human beings than it is. Some may wonder if another Mahatma Gandhi or an Albert Einstein or a Mother Theresa missed out on being born due to the declining global birthrates of the past few decades. But most know that such a question is fundamentally unanswerable and don't stay awake at night thinking about it.
The Changing Face of Foreign Assistance - New Funding Paradigms Offer a Challenge and Opportunity for Family Planning
September 1, 2006
New foreign assistance strategies that aim to encourage ownership by recipients while still effectively reducing poverty are laudable. They offer the hope of increased financial support to overall global development-a bigger pie-but they also pose significant challenges to the family planning field: Will it be able to keep a slice of that pie?
What You Need To Know About the Global Gag Rule Restrictions On U.S. Family Planning Assistance
July 11, 2006
On January 22, 2001 - his second day in office - President George W. Bush announced the reinstatement of the restrictions on overseas health care organizations in effect during the mid-1980s and early 1990s, commonly known as the "Mexico City Policy." The policy reversal has had serious ramifications for U.S. support for international family planning and reproductive health programs around the world.
How Shifts To Smaller Family Sizes Contributed To The Asian Miracle
July 3, 2006
Economists credit declining fertility, from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s, as a major contributor to sustained economic growth among the Asian Tigers - the economically vibrant nations of South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and the former Hong Kong Territory. Research indicates that shifts to smaller family sizes and slower rates of population growth played a key role in the creation of an educated workforce, the accumulation of household and government savings, the rise in wages, and the impressive growth of investments in manufacturing technology.
