Thank you for your support in 2019! From everyone here at Population Connection, may you have a happy and healthy holiday season and a bright start to 2020. 

Fighting for Safe Abortion With #Fight4HER

National Field Director Lauren Salmiery traveled to Kenya last month to attend the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25, the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo. Though the global community has made much progress in advancing reproductive rights since 1994’s ICPD, abortion was still a taboo topic for U.S. delegates at this year’s conference. You can read Lauren’s recap—and the counterproductive role right-wing delegates from the U.S. played—here.

Lauren gathered stories from Kenyan family planning providers affected by the Global Gag Rule—the Venoma clinic, located in the coastal city of Malindi, is pictured above. There, she met Kephine Atieno, the nurse-midwife who established the clinic eight years ago. While the Venoma clinic does not receive USAID funding, it works in partnership with organizations that have been affected by the Global Gag Rule. Kephine describes how offering a full range of services and programs—from contraceptive access and abortion to youth engagement—has become increasingly difficult in the post-Global Gag Rule climate. See the full article here.

Our #Fight4HER campaign with Population Connection Action Fund focuses on overturning the Global Gag Rule and removing barriers to family planning access all over the world. The year ahead will be enormously consequential, and #Fight4HER activists like you are gearing up for rallies, petition drop-offs, and get-out-the-vote efforts. Soon to begin its third year, the campaign recently expanded into Sacramento, CA. Learn more at Population Connection Action Fund's iwillfight4her.org.

Population Connection Volunteers Wrap Up 2019 and Look Ahead to Earth Day’s 50th Anniversary

Population Connection members spent 2019 volunteering in their communities all over the country to spread the word about population issues. Over the course of the year, nearly 300 members hosted 157 events in 30 states, reaching over 12,000 people, and gathering 1,500 petitions to pass the Global HER (Health, Empowerment, and Rights) Act. Our members ran tables at Earth Day events, hosted film screenings to mark World Population Day, took time to pass out informational materials at local farmers markets and America’s Charities events, and hosted Population Connection speakers to delve deeper into issues of sustainability and expanding access to family planning and reproductive health care.

Membership Relations staff are already hard at work laying the groundwork for Earth Day 2020—which marks Earth Day’s 50th Anniversary. We’re planning to mark this milestone by tabling at events across the country. Staff and volunteers will highlight the progress we’ve made since the first Earth Day in 1970, while sharing the population challenges we still face going forward. If you’re interested in volunteering, please reach out to Rose and Alyssa at [email protected].

PopEd’s End-of-Year Teaching Theme: Land Use

Population Education is ending 2019 with a focus on land use. Land is one of the most valuable natural resources on the planet, and the way we transform land for our own purposes affects wildlife habitats, human health, and more. This quarter, PopEd is covering topics such as urbanization and sustainable city planning, the tragedy of the commons, the impacts agricultural systems have on the environment, and deforestation. Our hands-on classroom resources prompt students to analyze issues related to land use while building skills in problem solving, graphing, and data analysis. Read more and explore some of PopEd’s lesson plans that explore this topic here.

You can access all of the resources PopEd staff will be highlighting through the end of the year by following the program on social media—explore all the content they’re sharing on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

$40,000 Matching Gift Challenge

Now through December 31st, a generous group of donors will match your gift to Population Connection, up to $40,000. Make your tax-deductible gift now and double your support for our ongoing programs in 2020!

Did you know that there are many different options for donating to Population Connection? From transferring stock to hosting a fundraiser on Facebook, there are multiple ways you can lend your support to our work. Learn more here. And thank you, as always, for your support of our cause. We appreciate you!