Tagged: Post 2015

  • September 20, 2014

    Building momentum for sexual and reproductive health in the post-2015 dialogue

    Written by
    Tricia Petruney, Technical Advisor, FHI 360
    Ward Cates, Distinguished Scientist and President Emeritus, FHI 360

    Sexual and reproductive health, which includes access to family planning and HIV prevention and treatment, is increasingly being linked to progress across all areas of development. As the United Nations Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development comes closer to finalizing the post-2015 global development goals, a growing crescendo of voices is commenting on where we stand with regard to meeting the sexual and reproductive health needs of the world’s girls, women and couples and is offering ideas on how to move ahead. We are also seeing important shifts in policy.

    There are many examples that illustrate the lively dialogue that is now happening on sexual and reproductive health.

    An article in the journal Contraception acknowledges that although significant, measurable progress on sexual and reproductive health has been made in the two decades since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), momentum on key areas of family planning has slowed in recent years.

    New commentaries in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization and The Lancet summarize the evidence for why universal access to family planning should be a key component of the post-2015 development agenda. Additional commentaries in The Lancet and Global Health: Science and Practice Journal offer actionable recommendations for meeting global demand for family planning. Finally, Womenatthecenter.org, an exciting new website, is sharing “inspiring, interconnected stories of women’s reproductive health and rights, empowerment and environmental sustainability.”

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  • August 7, 2014

    Family planning and the post-2015 development agenda

    Leadership in Family PlanningFamily planning is connected to all eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), whether ending poverty and hunger, providing universal education or fighting HIV and AIDS.

    As the MDGs come to a close and the world prepares for the post-2015 development agenda, a recent editorial in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization written by family planning experts from FHI 360 summarizes the growing evidence that continues to confirm the relevance of family planning to each of the MDGs. The editorial also explores why family planning is critical to the success of the new post-2015 global development goals.

    Authors Tricia Petruney, Technical Advisor; Lucy Wilson, Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor; John Stanback, Scientist; and Ward Cates, Distinguished Scientist and President Emeritus show how family planning, an area of work traditionally found only within the health sector, is actually intricately intertwined with many other areas of development.

    Read the editorial to learn more about how the integration of family planning across the development sphere is, as stated by the authors, “a best buy for development.”

  • October 2, 2013

    Women and girls: Beyond 2015

    Written by
    Albert J. Siemens, Chief Executive Officer, FHI 360

    We know what we can achieve.

    And we know what needs to be done.

    We know that improving access to family planning can reduce maternal and child mortality. Moreover, as long as women are unable to negotiate the number and spacing of their children, gains will be limited. We know that exclusive breastfeeding provides an infant the best start in life. Yet, evidence shows that a child born to a mother who has had access to quality education, especially secondary education, has a greater chance of surviving to see her fifth birthday than a child whose mother has no education. In countries around the world, we have reduced dramatically the incidence of HIV. Yet, gender violence and sexual exploitation will need to be addressed as part of the solution if we are to halt the spread of the disease.

    Last week, the United Nations General Assembly debated the post-2015 agenda, and it has never been more clear that women and girls must be top of mind in the global development discussion. Only when we transform unequal gender norms will we be able to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. This means taking a broader approach than what we have done in the past by integrating gender concerns and putting women and girls front and center in every post-2015 priority.

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