Women's Plans Foundation

Advocacy

February 2010 Alert --

Included: effects of world population issues on climate change, photos of events, news of coming events.

Scholarship Award and Essay Competition

wpf/file/NCW Award Application_2011.pdf

Enter contests -- $1,000 and $500 to be won

Are you a student of medicine, nursing, international relations? Are you interested in policy development for overseas aid? Dates and universities involved in 2010 to be announced.

Populations find their own natural limits

We can be wiser and more compassionate than just waiting for famine, disease and war to define our limits. The problem underlying political conflict over resources and environmental exhaustion is the pressure the growing human population creates. Rather than rejecting existing people, we can meet the problem at its conception, as a more affirmative response to migration and refugee pressures.

Welcome opportunity

Herbal and mechanical contraceptives have been found since early times on all continents, but with medicalisation replacing midwifery, women have lost ancient birth control knowledge, which should now be replaced by surer and safer techniques. It was not easy to achieve acceptance of contraceptives in Australia in the 20th century. It is now time to share health resources and reproductive knowledge with responsibility in areas overseas where women welcome the opportunity.

One plus two can equal a chain reaction

If each of us interests two more people, and each of those recruits two more people, we will have our own population explosion of advocacy for family planning. The world's most crucial pressure will be targeted when we help to share what we take for granted with women who now have no choice but to suffer high maternal and infant mortality rates.

The increasing need

AusAID and U.S. overseas aid agencies are 'refocusing' aid, away from programs run by not-for-profit organisations, now giving more aid through corporations to provide infrastructure and trade opportunities. This will be a 'for profit' aid, likely to neglect those so impoverished they cannot become a market. An informed body of public opinion and your voice will be needed to maintain concern about the world's increasing population ?not just an ever-expanding market, but an insupportable burden on the globe.

Other advocates' useful websites:

Australian Reproductive Health Alliance's

- www.arha.org.au

Australian Reproductive Health Alliance's mission is to "promote knowledge, education and research relating to the development of family planning and other reproductive health services, paying particular attention to the needs of indigenous people, both within Australian and internationally...."

- www.ippf.org

International Planned Parenthood Federation is a central dissemination of funding and information.

guttmacher.org.au

The Guttmacher Institute coordinates research and joins with other reproductive health organisations in representations to governments and organisations.

- www.population.org.au
Sustainable Population Australia "works on many fronts to encourage informed public debate about how Australia and the world can achieve an ecologically sustainable population.

www.populationmedia.org

Soap operas are made for individual countries and cultures to enable attitude and behaviour growth in areas of human rights, including family planning.