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Surprises Ahead? Population-Environment Dynamics and Tipping Points
›May 21, 2013 // By Laurie Mazur
Today, the Sahara Desert is a vast, nearly lifeless expanse of sand and rock. But ancient cave paintings tell of a time when it was fertile grassland and bands of human hunters chased aurochs and antelope.
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Leslie Mwinnyaa: Young People Drive Integrated Development in Ghana’s Ellembelle District
›“I have been amazed and inspired by the youth that I’ve worked with, with their dedication and motivation to help their countrymen and to try to make their communities better places,” says Leslie Mwinnyaa in this week’s podcast.
When Mwinnyaa arrived in the Ellembelle district of coastal Ghana as a Peace Corps volunteer she found a multitude of development challenges. Fishermen routinely use illegal techniques like chemicals, lights, and dynamite that decimate fish stocks; “sand winning” and mangrove clearing increases erosion, leaving communities vulnerable to flooding and reducing breeding grounds for local fish; poor waste and refuse management contributes to disease and poor health; and teenage girls have twice the national rate of pregnancy.
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Combining Health and Food Security in Mozambique: Interview With Pathfinder International’s SCIP Project
›Pathfinder International’s Strengthening Communities Through Integrated Programming (SCIP) is part of a new push towards integrated development – looking at communities as a whole and addressing multiple, traditionally-siloed sectors at once. SCIP integrates both its activities and its funding to great effect in Mozambique.
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Protecting Parks, Empowering People: Innovative Conservation and Development Projects in Mozambique and Zambia
›Wildlife areas and parks are designed to preserve plant and animal life in biological hotspots, but what about the people who live nearby these hotspots? In many parts of East Africa, communities press right up against park boundaries and people have few alternatives but to draw on the natural resources of protected areas. Conservation efforts depend on these communities’ cooperation and the sustainability – both environmentally and economically – of their livelihoods. [Video Below]
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From Alcohol to HIV/AIDS, Anita Raj on How Gender Inequities Affect Maternal Health in India
›“Improving the equity of women, the treatment of women and girls, the value of women and girls in society is a very important means of improving population health,” says Dr. Anita Raj of the University of California, San Diego. Traditional societal expectations of women and girls in India contribute to high early marriage rates, low birth spacing, high rates of sexually transmitted infections, and high rates of abuse. Efforts to improve maternal and child health should take these and other gender inequities into consideration. “The need to work on these issues and work on them immediately cannot be overstated,” she said. -
What Rights? New York Times’ Discussion of Egypt’s Population Policy Incomplete
›The New York Times had a front-page story on Egypt’s population policy last week; unfortunately it wasn’t a sterling example of how to report on this tricky issue and left out a key part of the story – the important role of family planning in ensuring human rights, especially for women.
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Jay Silverman on the Impact of Domestic Violence on Maternal and Child Health
›“Violence against women is obviously a major factor in maternal and reproductive health,” says Jay Silverman, co-director of the Program on Gender Inequities and Global Health at the University of California, San Diego, in this week’s podcast. From hypertension to early delivery, “all of these things occur at significantly higher rates among women who have an abusive partner.” Silverman gives an overview of the “state of knowledge” about the effect of abuse on mothers and children and suggested that interventions during antenatal care that targets both women and their partners can reduce this important source of child and maternal morbidity.
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Lessons From Kenya and Malawi on Combining Climate Change, Development, and Population Policy
›“The combined effects of rapid population growth and climate change are increasing food insecurity, environmental degradation, and poverty levels in Malawi and Kenya,” said Clive Mutunga, a senior research associate at Population Action International (PAI).
Showing posts from category family planning.
“Improving the equity of women, the treatment of women and girls, the value of women and girls in society is a very important means of improving population health,” says Dr. Anita Raj of the University of California, San Diego. Traditional societal expectations of women and girls in 
