Population news from September

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POPULATION MATTERS SUPPORTERS' UPDATE

SEPTEMBER 2020

Director's message

Last Saturday, 26th September was ‘World Contraception Day’, which PM
marked by launching our online petition [3] calling for proper funding for
the UN’s Population Fund (UNFPA) to provide for the basic rights and
needs of the estimated 270 million women globally without access to safe,
modern family planning.

That those rights and needs are unmet for so many women in the 21st Century
is criminal and absurd. The contraceptive pill invented in the 1950s and
commercialised by the early 1960s has been available for decades. Other
contraceptive devices and methods have existed for hundreds of years - the
condom in various forms for over 5,000 years [4]! Of course, some of those
devices and methods were neither safe or pleasant to use – especially for
women. Even modern family planning isn’t fool-proof, 40% of pregnancies
are unplanned – the first of my two daughters wasn’t a conscious choice
(love her, as I do).

But there’s no levity in the fact that hundreds of millions of women,
including in rich developed countries like the US and UK, still lack
agency, choice and rights over their own fertility and bodies. Criminal,
when the cost of addressing this unmet need is estimated at just under $70
billion, less than Americans spend on their pets annually. In absurd
contrast, the US has withheld critical funding to UNFPA over recent years.
Worse, under Trump it reinstated and extended the so-called ‘Global
Gag’ rule, cutting approximately $12 billion in overseas aid to any
healthcare and development programmes that aren’t opposed to abortion.

Certainly, the Trump administration’s active decision to cut funding and
curb choice has brought misery to millions, undermining poorer countries’
chances of achieving many, if any of the sustainable development goals. But
so does the passive failure of many self-styled progressive, ethical
organisations, which choose to ignore the benefits to people and planet
from addressing the connected issues of women’s rights and population.
The benefits of contraception, access to and choice over their use, have
been co-opted by and are still being controlled by men and patriarchal
institutions, be they evangelical groups in the US or the Catholic Church
– which imposes its outdated, human rights denying dogma on birth-control
on millions of the poorest souls in the world. It is both criminal and
absurd that an institution run by celibate men should be so preoccupied
with and presume to control women's bodies.

- Robin Maynard, Director, Population Matters

NEWS FROM POPULATION MATTERS

Almost 8,000 urge UN to act on population

This year marks the five-year anniversary of the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), many of which are on track for failure partly due
to continued population growth. During the UN's Act4SDGs week this month,
we submitted our petition, signed by people from more than 120 countries,
calling on the UN Secretary-General to enable and encourage smaller
families to have a better chance of meeting the SDGs.

Read more [5]

Meet the Kibra youths protecting their communities and environment

Population Matters Campaigner Katrina Dixon reflects on what we have
achieved through our Empower to Plan programme so far this year, and the
continued support needed for the amazing youths of Kibra slum in Kenya.

Read more [6]

POPULATION

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals depends on reducing birth
rates faster

With ten years left to go, the international community must break its
silence and tackle population growth directly if the UN’s SDGs are ever
to be realised. Creating a better world, with security and opportunity for
all, cannot occur in a context of continued rapid population growth,
explains Robin in this guest post for The Overpopulation Project.

Read more [7]

"Population denial is offensive to women like me"

We were very sad to have to say farewell to our Campaigns and Projects
Officer Florence Blondel when she moved to the US, but are thrilled that
she continues her population activism 'across the pond'. In this excellent
article for the Global Footprint Network, Florence pushes back against
those seeking to shut down all discussion of our numbers, explaining how
this hurts women and girls, including in her home country, Uganda.

Read more [8]

ENVIRONMENT

More promises on biodiversity loss

Ahead of the major UN Summit on Biodiversity today, political leaders have
made a 'Pledge for Nature', promising to protect the natural world and
"take meaningful action". But such pledges have failed before, and more
than 100 nations (the US and Russia among them) have not signed up.

Read more [9]

You can't stop extinctions by ignoring the number of people

WWF’s new Living Planet Report 2020 provides a clear picture of
humanity’s destruction of nature but doesn’t provide us with the
missing link. Population Matters Senior Campaigner Nina Jatana takes a look
and laments the serious omission of empowering solutions that slow human
population growth.

Read more [10]

WOMEN'S RIGHTS & SEXUAL HEALTH

Governments must spend more on global family planning

Investing in sexual and reproductive health helps both people and the
environment, yet international aid for the provision of family planning
services is falling short. Katrina lays out why fulfilling the unmet need
for modern contraception is key to improving lives and achieving the UN's
17 SDGs, and should be a global priority.

Read more [11]

"Differential access to health services is a silent pandemic that has
afflicted women’s lives for decades"

The diversion of resources towards the pandemic response has had a negative
impact on other essential health services, including sexual and
reproductive health, thereby threatening to reverse the limited gains made
globally. Sanghamitra Singh of the Population Foundation of India
highlights the situation in her country.

Read more [12]

Quote of the month

_"I support Population Matters because I think if we keep on growing,
we’re not only going to damage nature, but we’re likely to see more and
more inequality and human suffering."_

- Sir David Attenborough, Population Matters Patron

TAKE ACTION

Urge the G20 Leaders to Fund Global Family Planning

On this year’s 'World Contraception Day' we launched a new petition
calling on the G20 leaders to commit sufficient funding beyond 2022 to the
UNFPA in order to end the unmet contraceptive needs of an estimated 270
million women and girls around the world. Join us by adding your name to
the petition and sharing it with your friends and family.

Learn more [3]

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