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World Population Week Blog-a-thon: July 11-17, 2010
Blog and Take Action on International Family Planning!
This week through July 17, Amplify will host the FIRST World Population Week Blog-a-thon. This year's theme, Everyone Counts, underscores the importance of data for development. Reliable, disaggregated data is crucial to progress but often data collection is not broken down by age, gender, or sexual orientation and identity. All young people need to be counted so that programs allocate resources to respond to our sexual and reproductive health needs.Today, nearly half the world's population—more than 3 billion people—are under the age of 25. Collectively, we as young people have a critical role to play in discussing population issues from a rights-based approach, particularly regarding sexual and reproductive health and rights. The ability to access sexual and reproductive health information and services is a human right that empowers young people to make healthy choices for themselves and for their families. Educating girls and boys, empowering women, meeting the demand for voluntary family planning, and ensuring access to comprehensive, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services not only play an important role in supporting human rights—but also in ensuring a healthier environment for us all to live in.
Globally:
- At least 200 million women worldwide want to limit or space their births, but don't have access to modern family methods.
- UNFPA estimates that this unmet need for family planning is twice as great for young people.
- For young women ages 15 to 19 in low-and middle-income countries, complications from pregnancy are the leading cause of death.
- Unmet need for family planning will significantly increase as the world's largest generation of young people enters into their reproductive years.
This is your time to make your voice heard.
Celebrate World Population Day by posting a blog on Amplify! Here are some questions to help you write. How accessible are sexual and reproductive health services for young people in your community? What about family planning and different methods of contraception? How are young people participating in the planning, design, and implementation of such programs and services? How are young leaders in your community making progress towards your vision for human rights? In light of this year's theme, how is data disaggregated in your country, particularly for young people?
But don't stop there — you can also use this opportunity to tell Congress to support increased funding for international family planning. The House Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees foreign aid funding recently approved a $20 million increase above the President's budget request for family planning assistance. This is remarkable given the current fiscal situation and deep cuts in other programs. While this is an important step in the right direction, the unmet need for assistance far outpaces current funding. As the Senate takes up funding decisions, it is important that we not give up on our goal of $1 billion for international family planning assistance. Do your part and sign our petition. Investing in international family planning is smart, cost-effective, and will help millions of young people around the world by providing greater access to reproductive health services and contraception.
Click here to sign our petition!
And check out the following publications that talk about these important issues:
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