Photo: © David Colwell
Having in mind the 2011 International Family Planning Conference, that took place last week in Dakar (Senegal), it is important to make a reflexion about the issue, now that the World has reached 7 billion people. Being overpopulation a "global problem", what are the best strategies to prevent an overpopulated and unequal world?
In the developed world, contraception and family planning are part of women's lives for a long period time. However, in the developing world, women face a very different reality: poor maternal health, carrying one baby after the other, dealing alone with complications during pregnancy and often facing death while giving birth. In francophone Africa, only 10 percent of women have access to hormonal contraception: most women prefer injections, then implants and finally pills. In Senegal, the country that hosted the conference, the situation is no different and this rate is even lower among poorer women. As it happens with other medical facilities, richer people know how and where to get contraception.
Senegal might be a conservative country but some religious leaders support family planning as a "humane measure to improve the lives of families and preserve women's health". Even the President encourages family planning, thus creating a perfect environment to make things change. What is then missing? The answer is not surprising: donors' support. The USA is the biggest funder of family planning in the developing world (650 million USD a year), exceeding the whole of Europe. Sweden was one of the countries that embraced women's sexual rights, since the issue was brought to discussion in Cairo's population conference in 1994. The Bush administration however said it was unable to endorse such ideas. Ideology should not be the reason to deny family planning to the women who live in the developing world, just as it did not happen in the developed world.
Even if there are targets for reducing the deaths of women in childbirth, family planning was left out of the Millennium Development Goals. This means such important issue as contraception still seems to be controversial, so many years after being a reality in the developed world. Important research will be published, showing that more deaths have been averted through family planning, by preventing unsafe abortion, than actually occur. While funding for family planning is faible, more unwanted babies and more unsafe abortion deaths will occur.
Accordingly, secondary education for females in developing countries should be encouraged. Several studies show the decrease in fertility rate among women who had completed secondary school. Being education associated with permanent increases in income, educated women are more likely to improve the quality of life of their offspring, instead of being worried about how many of their children will survive into adulthood. Increased female education also improves accessibility and understanding of fertility options and health-promoting measures before and during pregnancy.
Funding for family planning and increasing secondary education for females in the developing world must be a priority for global health policy makers. Secondary education efforts have the potential to empower women economically, socially and intellectually thus meeting the MGD 3. It's time to stop hypocrisy and make family planning a reality worldwide.
read more: Governments need to invest more in family planning
read more: Make secondary education universal
read more: The Effect of Female Education on Fertility and Infant Health: Evidence from School Entry Policies Using Exact Date of Birth
read more: Social Gains from Female Education: A Cross-National Study
In the developed world, contraception and family planning are part of women's lives for a long period time. However, in the developing world, women face a very different reality: poor maternal health, carrying one baby after the other, dealing alone with complications during pregnancy and often facing death while giving birth. In francophone Africa, only 10 percent of women have access to hormonal contraception: most women prefer injections, then implants and finally pills. In Senegal, the country that hosted the conference, the situation is no different and this rate is even lower among poorer women. As it happens with other medical facilities, richer people know how and where to get contraception.
Senegal might be a conservative country but some religious leaders support family planning as a "humane measure to improve the lives of families and preserve women's health". Even the President encourages family planning, thus creating a perfect environment to make things change. What is then missing? The answer is not surprising: donors' support. The USA is the biggest funder of family planning in the developing world (650 million USD a year), exceeding the whole of Europe. Sweden was one of the countries that embraced women's sexual rights, since the issue was brought to discussion in Cairo's population conference in 1994. The Bush administration however said it was unable to endorse such ideas. Ideology should not be the reason to deny family planning to the women who live in the developing world, just as it did not happen in the developed world.
Even if there are targets for reducing the deaths of women in childbirth, family planning was left out of the Millennium Development Goals. This means such important issue as contraception still seems to be controversial, so many years after being a reality in the developed world. Important research will be published, showing that more deaths have been averted through family planning, by preventing unsafe abortion, than actually occur. While funding for family planning is faible, more unwanted babies and more unsafe abortion deaths will occur.
Accordingly, secondary education for females in developing countries should be encouraged. Several studies show the decrease in fertility rate among women who had completed secondary school. Being education associated with permanent increases in income, educated women are more likely to improve the quality of life of their offspring, instead of being worried about how many of their children will survive into adulthood. Increased female education also improves accessibility and understanding of fertility options and health-promoting measures before and during pregnancy.
Funding for family planning and increasing secondary education for females in the developing world must be a priority for global health policy makers. Secondary education efforts have the potential to empower women economically, socially and intellectually thus meeting the MGD 3. It's time to stop hypocrisy and make family planning a reality worldwide.
read more: Governments need to invest more in family planning
read more: Make secondary education universal
read more: The Effect of Female Education on Fertility and Infant Health: Evidence from School Entry Policies Using Exact Date of Birth
read more: Social Gains from Female Education: A Cross-National Study
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