• May 29, 2015

    Cognitive dissonance in the development community

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    There is an interesting contradiction emerging in the international development community in the run-up to July’s third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and September’s U.N. General Assembly in New York, where member states are expected to adopt the new sustainable development goals.

    On one hand, there is growing recognition of the value of more comprehensive programs that integrate interventions such as combining HIV and AIDS and reproductive health services, or nutrition and basic education, or women’s rights and income-generating activities. The planning for the goals has been accompanied by a growing chorus to adopt the common-sense use of integrated approaches.

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  • May 28, 2015

    Common cause: Linking menstrual hygiene management and long-acting contraception to improve youth reproductive health

    Written by
    Rebecca Callahan, Scientist, FHI 360
    Kate Rademacher, Technical Advisor, FHI 360
    Lucy Wilson, Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor, FHI 360

    What do family planning and menstrual hygiene management (MHM) have in common? Beyond a shared purpose to improve the health and well-being of women and girls, some family planning methods can actually improve menstrual hygiene. Menstrual Hygiene Day on May 28 offers an opportunity to explore synergies between the two fields.

    In recent years, the MHM movement has focused on the critical role that good menstrual hygiene management plays in enabling women and girls to achieve their full potential. Reducing the stigma associated with menstruation and ensuring that adolescent girls and women are able to safely manage their menses can eliminate some of the barriers that prevent girls and women in many countries from participating in day-to-day activities, such as attending school.

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  • May 27, 2015

    Envisioning a world in which youth are at the center of their reproductive lives

    Written by
    Kelly L’Engle, Scientist, Social and Behavioral Health Sciences, FHI 360

    Kelly L’EngleImagine the potential if each one of the 600 million adolescent girls in developing countries could have full control over her reproductive life. She would be able to stay in school, delay marriage, postpone pregnancy, and support herself and her community. Yet, approximately 16 million girls between the ages of 15 and 19 give birth each year and one-third of girls give birth before their 20th birthday.

    To advocate for young people’s access to safe, reliable contraceptive information and services, FHI 360 co-hosted a meeting today on youth and long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCS). With participants including the LARC and Permanent Methods Community of Practice Secretariat, Population Services International, Marie Stopes International and Pathfinder, the meeting highlighted the range of highly effective contraception methods available and provided a platform for tackling tough questions about how to effectively promote LARCs for youth.

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  • March 2, 2015

    The specter of segregation haunts global health

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360
    Leith Greenslade, Vice Chair, Office of the U.N. Special Envoy for Financing the Health Millennium Development Goals

    There is no question that the greatest health achievements under the Millennium Development Goals have focused on single diseases. Arresting the spread of HIV and AIDS and malaria is perhaps the most significant development success of the new century. And vaccination, especially of measles, is one of the reasons that deaths among older children have fallen faster than deaths among infants or women during pregnancy and childbirth.

    In contrast, the lowest-performing areas across all eight MDGs — reducing infant and maternal deaths — are targets that don’t lend themselves to a single disease strategy. Just six countries have met the MDG target for reducing infant deaths, and only 15 countries have achieved the target for reducing maternal deaths.

    Could these targets have actually been achieved if we had pursued an integrated approach to advancing the health of women and children? Did our fascination with and confidence in the segregation of single-disease initiatives cost us achievement in other areas requiring more complex solutions?

    Read the remainder of the blog here.

  • February 26, 2015

    The thin blue line: Increasing access to pregnancy tests in family planning programs

    Written by
    Kate Rademacher, Technical Advisor, FHI 360
    John Stanback, Senior Scientist, FHI 360

    What is the true value of a 10-cent (US$) pregnancy test? In many countries, women are routinely denied same-day provision of family planning methods if they arrive at the clinic on a day when they are not menstruating. When it comes to ensuring reliable access to contraception, it turns out that simple, low-cost pregnancy tests can be extremely valuable.

    Sonia, a 49-year-old woman in Rwanda, is a long-time user of Depo-Provera, the popular three-month injectable contraceptive. She explains that women who are not menstruating are often turned away for family planning services because health care providers are concerned that these women might be pregnant. Many are told to return during their next menses, leaving them at risk of unintended pregnancy in the meantime. Sonia says, “When you get there, they ask if you are having your period. When it is ‘no,’ they give you another appointment. When it is ‘yes,’ they give you cotton wool and you go somewhere discreet to put some blood [on it] and come back to show it to the provider. It is only then that the provider shows you the methods.”

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  • January 5, 2015

    Words count!

    Written by
    Patrick Fine, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    Let’s start the New Year by looking at how we talk about development. It is striking how certain concepts and buzzwords rally people around ideas and mobilize us into action. The buzzwords themselves become powerful change agents. Yet, when they mature into unquestioned orthodoxy, they can restrict our vision and dull our understanding. Here are two buzzwords we love to use in development that are ripe for a deeper look.

    Sustainability

    Development and sustainability go together like bricks and mortar. But this term now has two distinct meanings in development parlance. One meaning refers to policies and actions that safeguard the environment and do not deplete our natural resources. This meaning has gained currency over the last 15 years. The second, and at least in my experience more common use, refers to a recipient partner’s interest and ability to continue projects or reforms financed by donors once donor funding ends. This use is closely associated with the concept of country ownership. When USAID adopted sustainable development as its credo in the mid-1990s, it was a response to the criticism that donor-funded projects collapsed when the funding ran out, often up-ending years of effort. This was partly a result of donors not wanting to take on recurrent costs that were seen as the partner’s responsibility. The lack of serious planning for recurrent costs remains a major challenge in international development.

    Yet, should sustainable development even be an objective in a world where technology is changing everything around us at an exponential rate? Do we really want to sustain yesterday’s solutions? I think not.

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  • March 14, 2013

    Human development and the rise of the global South

    quotation: It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity. -Dag Hammarskjold

    Today, the United Nations Development Programme released its 2013 Human Development Report. The theme of the report is The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World and examines the rapid progress made by many developing countries toward improving the lives of their citizens by bringing millions out of poverty.

    “The rise of the South has resulted not from adhering to a fixed set of policy prescriptions, but from applying pragmatic policies that respond to local circumstances and opportunities — including a deepening of the developmental role of states, a dedication to improving human development (including by supporting education and social welfare) and an openness to trade and innovation.”

    Read the report here.

  • March 13, 2013

    Partner reduction to avoid HIV risk is the focus for a new publication

    Written by
    Suzanne Fischer, Technical Writer, FHI 360
    Promoting Partner Reduction title page

    Having multiple sexual partners, particularly when relationships overlap in time, is a major driver of the HIV epidemic. Overlapping, or concurrent, relationships increase the number of people who are connected in a “sexual network,” and HIV spreads more quickly the larger the sexual network. Although young people report having multiple sexual partners, few HIV prevention programs for youth tackle this topic.

    FHI 360, on behalf of USAID’s Interagency Youth Working Group, recently helped address this gap with a new publication, Promoting Partner Reduction: Helping Young People Understand and Avoid HIV Risks from Multiple Partnerships. The late Dr. Doug Kirby of ETR Associates was a major contributor.

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  • December 11, 2012

    Addressing Human Development Issues Requires Innovation

    Bitra George, India Country Director at FHI 360, discusses the role of innovation in human development.

  • October 11, 2012

    International Day of the Girl

    Today, October 11, 2012, marks the first UN International Day of the Girl.  This day has been set aside to recognize girls’ rights and the challenges they face. The theme for this year is ending child marriage.  On the UN International Day of the Girl, we are launching a series highlighting our work with girls around the world.  We invite you to participate in the conversation on twitter with #IDG and #DayoftheGirl.