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By: Lauren Kalina, Advocates for Youth Intern
Yesterday, Earth Day 2012, Washington, DC was inundated with a steady rain that lasted all day and continued into this afternoon. To some, this was a good sign. After all, water refreshes the earth, washes away impurities, etc. But to me, I thought of this rain storm as Mother Earth’s sadness at the state of the planet. To me this served as her wake up call to us, saying: “stop celebrating, there is still so much work to be done!”
And it’s true. The earth is in a very sad state of affairs. For example:
• The Earth’s climate has warmed about 1°C (1.8°F) during the last 100 years. Over the last 25 years, the rate of global warming has accelerated, at over 0.18C per decade.
• The United Nations 1998 Human Development Report reveals that, “Globally, the 20% of the world’s people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditures—the poorest 20% a minuscule 1.3%”
• The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that the global average sea level will rise between 0.6 and 2 feet (0.18 to 0.59 meters) in the next century
• Globally, the number of reported weather-related natural disasters has more than tripled since the 1960s. Every year, these disasters result in over 60 000 deaths, mainly in developing countries.
• The people hardest hit by climate change and environmental degradation are those living in the most vulnerable areas, including coastal communities, small island nations, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asian delta regions
Interestingly enough, all of these issues of climate change and sustainable development can be linked to the sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescents worldwide!
The abundance of rainfall in the DC area over the past 36 hours reminded me of an event I went to last week called “A Long Walk to Water: Women, Population, & Access to Safe Water" hosted by the Aspen Institute and sponsored by the Rio+20 Major Group on Women. They had various speakers pontificate about the work to be done in developing countries to ensure access to clean, safe drinking water and the positive influence it could have on families. Additionally, they had some great things to say about women’s health and rights.
Some of these points were reiterated in the reading materials handed out following the event. Some interesting and important statistics include:
• In 1995 386 million people lived in areas of water stress or water scarcity. Today that number has grown to 1.2 billion.
• The World Bank has identified 45 countries where water shortages are most severe. In these countries, water is scarce and the per capita income of these countries is lower than $3 a day for most families.
• Also, in these countries the average fertility rate is 4.8, compared to the global average of 2.6.
By Lauren Kalina, Advocates for Youth Intern
Prior to my Spring Break trip to Nicaragua, I was apprehensive about the experience. I imagined visiting an area that was dirt-poor, disease-ridden and generally unhappy. However, I quickly came to realize that this previous misconception is nothing like Nicaragua at all. During my week in the country, I had the opportunity to experience sustainable development work, the physical and mental strength of my Nicaraguan counterparts and a seemingly strong sense of contentment.
During our trip, we worked for and stayed at a fantastic organization called Nochari. The office headquarters were located in the town of Nandaime, not far from Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. Nochari supports sustainable agriculture practices as well as women’s empowerment. My group worked on a cooperative property called Ojo de Agua alongside Nicaraguan workers to help build a grain storage facility for women to store their grains when not selling them at the market on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
My group had the chance to visit the homes of members living in the rural community of Ojo De Agua. The homes had dirt floors and most had only received electricity within the last five years. However, just about 30 minutes away in Nandaime, we spoke with local high school students who had cell phones, and Facebook. Many of them were able to speak to us in English because they had English class at school and TVs at home. I spoke to a 14 year old student who had aspirations of becoming a doctor. She said that after medical school she wanted to stay in Nicaragua and help her people.
In fact, I don’t know why she wouldn’t want to stay. Upon our visit to the health clinic down the road, we learned that doctors who attend public medical school in Nicaragua are automatically placed in jobs once they graduate and paid an average salary at least 10 times above the minimum wage in Nicaragua. Additionally, the healthcare system in Nicaragua is completely free and universal to those seeking medical attention. Even today in America, as we reach the two-year anniversary of the passing of the Affordable Care Act, this kind of medical care is not a reality. And finally, being the sexual health nut that I am, I was thrilled to find that the medical facility had a separate building on site dedicated to sexual and reproductive health. The clinic had a group specifically for adolescents, which trained them to become peer educators on issues such as teen pregnancy prevention, STIs and HIV/AIDS. This group exists despite the fact that the HIV/AIDS rate is lower in Nicaragua than most other Central American countries.
Overall, I found my trip to be incredibly enlightening. I was amazed by the things that I learned and the connections that I made (even though I experienced a serious language barrier by not speaking Spanish). The reality of the situation in Nicaragua far exceeded my expectations in the best way possible.
In closing, Maria, the founder and President of Nochari said this of Nicaragua: “We are a poor country, but rich in culture.” And in my short but meaningful time in the country, I can say that I whole-heartedly agree.
Editor's Note. This post is part of our International Women's Week Blogathon. Click here to learn more and get involved.
By: Lauren Kalina, Advocates for Youth Intern
Today is International Women’s Day! And what a beautiful day it is. The sun is shining, I have liked every Facebook status related to women that I have seen all day, and I just want to shout to the world, “I AM PROUD TO BE A WOMAN!”
Why shouldn’t I be? Women have come a long way! This morning I watched a video called “Bad Romance: Women’s Suffrage” It’s literally the story of the women’s suffrage movement set to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” It was a good start to my International Women’s Day. It made me think about how hard the leaders of the Women’s party fought for our right to vote… and how easily, and unintentionally, I take it for granted.
Soaring on my high of womanhood, I then read an article in the New York Times entitled “Africa’s Girl Power,” which profiled an organization called Camfed, The Campaign for Female Education. Camfed invests in the education of remarkable young women in rural parts of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana and Malawi. By giving these women access to secondary and higher education, they become better equipped to make important decisions about their future such as when to marry and have children, and obtaining the career that they want.
Proud of the international impact that I just read about, I felt inspired to take advantage of the fantastic opportunity offered today by Kiva to make a trial donation, in honor of National Women’s Day, to an organization that supports women in developing countries. I decided to donate my free $25 to an organization in Tanzania called Bahati Group, which is asking for a loan to open a women’s clothing shop.
I can’t help but feel pride for being a woman today. However, I know that I cannot celebrate this day to the fullest extent when, around the world, women everywhere have their basic human rights breached on a daily basis.
I watched a film today called “From Fear to Freedom: Ending Violence against Women,” a new mini-documentary from the Women’s Learning Partnership, released today, specifically for International Women’s Day. It discussed the gender based violence that many women worldwide face constantly. As I heard statistics, such as “87% of Afghan women are victims of domestic violence,” and the stories of the women raped multiple times in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a tactic of war, I couldn’t help but ask: What happened to the cultures that used to idolize women and treat them with the respect that they deserved? I know I’ve learned about them in school. Some of the major Hindu deities are women. Ancient Greece and Rome venerated goddesses as well. Where did this respect go in modern culture?
By: Lauren Kalina, Advocates for Youth Intern
On January 10th, the UN released their Zero Draft for the Rio+20 Conference. The Rio+20 Conference is the sobriquet for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD). It is being hosted in Brazil this summer to mark the 20th anniversary of 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED.) The conference will focus on the facilitation of sustainable development in the context of today’s society.
While the Zero Draft is an important beginning to outlining needs and priorities for the upcoming conference, there is an important aspect of sustainable development that the draft seems to have forgotten: the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people.
Young people play a crucial role in advocating and organizing around the intersection of environmental sustainability and reproductive rights. An example of this is The Time is Now Campaign, which addresses several of these intersection points, such as: population maintenance, contraception and family planning services, HIV/AIDS prevention, natural resources management, sex education, and more.
By Lauren Kalina, AFY Intern
Sexual harassment is a pervasive issue -– and one that I refuse to stay silent about any longer.According to the U.S. Department of Education, “Sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, which can include unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature.” This can include anything from catcalls on a street corner to cyber and in-person bullying in schools to inappropriate sexual behavior and even rape.
Recently, more and more instances of sexual harassment have been brought to the public eye:
Jerry Sandusky, a former Penn State football coach was charged last weekend with 40 counts of child sexual assault for molesting eight boys over a 15 year period. Sandusky started a charity called The Second Mile for troubled youth and found his victims through its programs.
Herman Cain, GOP presidential candidate, was accused of sexual assault by four women last week. These women have said that while he was the head of the National Restaurant Association, he exhibited sexually suggestive behavior that elicited discomfort from his female employees.
The American Association of University Women released a study last week called Crossing the Line: Sexual Harassment at School. The study examined the answers of 1,965 nationally representative students in grades 7-12. Crossing The Line points out several key facts such as:
• 48% of the students surveyed had experienced some form of sexual harassment in the 2010-2011 school year.
• Girls were more likely than boys to be sexually harassed, by a significant margin (56 percent versus 40 percent).
• 30% of students said that they had been sexually harassed through text, email, Facebook or some other form of electronic communication.
• Students experienced sexual harassment in regards to gender, sexual orientation and more.
All of these occurrences of sexual harassment are happening right before our very eyes. It’s time that we start taking action to ensure that sexual harassment perpetrators know that this kind of behavior is not OK. Here are some organizations and activists that are working to spread the word:
Hollaback – Hollaback is the movement to end street harassment. Victims of street harassment can share stories, pictures, comments, etc. through mobile technology and the internet. Right now, Hollaback websites have been launched in many major cities. Check to see if your city has one.
By: Lauren Kalina, AFY Intern
On November 8, the state of Mississippi will vote on ballot initiative 26, which will attempt to change the Mississippi constitution to define human life as beginning at conception. The actual text of the initiative is as follows:
For the women of Mississippi, this initiative would attempt to ban abortion, certain types of birth control as well as treatment for infertility and miscarriage. This is a major violation of a woman’s reproductive rights. Additionally, Initiative 26 could have many more far-reaching, unforseen legal and political implications.Section 33. Person defined. As used in this Article III of the state constitution, “The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.”
Recently, many anti-choice presidential candidates, including Mitt Romney, have come out in support of this life-threatening measure. Romney, like many other conservative politicians, seems to be confused about just how extreme Initiative 26 is. Here, you can watch Rachel Maddow set men straight about how birth control works.
Women’s access to birth control could be severly limited by Initiative 26 because this measure considers a fertilized egg as a human life. However, many forms of birth control prevents the implantation of fertilized eggs, therein creating a conflict. Maybe if our politicans had received better sex education they might understand this more thoroughly…
This vote on November 8th is of particular importance to Mississippians, but should be of great importance to women all over the country. According to CNN, Mississippi is the only state with a "personhood" initiative on the ballot this year. However, according to the CNN article, similar measures are being planned for next year in Florida, Montana and Ohio; and efforts in at least five other states are in the planning stages.
A yes vote on this measure would open the floodgates for more bills such as this to be introduced in other states. Mississippians for Healthy Families has created a coalition of organizations that oppose Initiative 26. The coalition includes: the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, The American College of Obstetrician Gynecologists and many more.
Regardless of where you live, you can help make a difference in the lives of women and families throughout Mississippi by donating today to the Vote No on 26 campaign. Your support will help the campaign’s grassroots efforts to prevent the passage of this harmful initiative.
By: Lauren Kalina, AFY Intern
Just a little over a year ago, 21 million young Americans ages 18-26 did not have access to health insurance, making young adults the age group least likely to have health care. Many of these uninsured young people were dropped from their parents plans after graduating from college and because of the economic climate, were unable to find reasonably priced plans or jobs that provided health insurance coverage.
However, last week HHS announced some promising new data: one million young adults have gained health insurance in the past year thanks to the Affordable Care Act’s dependent coverage provision. This provision allows young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance plan until age 26.
As a college senior, the dependent coverage provision of the ACA is extremely critical in helping me to transition smoothly to a life beyond college. The provision has given me a great deal of freedom. I now have the freedom to look for the job that I want, not a job that will give me the best health insurance. I have the freedom to travel for a while after graduation and not have to worry about getting the proper medical care in a foreign country. And I have the freedom to take my time and figure out what I really want and need in regards to my health care in the future.
For me and many other college seniors going off into “the real world” in the next few months, we have plenty of things to worry about. But now, thanks to the ACA, figuring out where my health insurance is coming from does not have to be one of them.
