By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The 2013 International Conference on Family Planning is in full swing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, concentrated around the them of “Full Access, Full Choice.” The nearly 4,000 participants are energized around bringing family planning and reproductive rights to communities in need the world over.  Ethiopia, the second most-populous nation in Africa,
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Do you want to do something that will help women around the world?  One big step you can take is to support the Global Democracy Promotion Act (GDPA) – a piece of congressional legislation that calls for permanently ending the global gag rule. What is the Global Gag Rule? The global
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org This May 23rd will mark the first-ever International Day to End Obstetric Fistula.  This is a treatable condition that sadly afflicts women and girls in developing nations that lack decent maternal care. It is hoped that this problem can finally be dealt with by focusing global attention on it, thereby helping
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Last week, at the Women’s Policy Summit in Sacramento, promoting women’s issues took center stage for a day. An impressive array of California advocates, activists, legislators and others gathered for a conference dedicated to “Advancing Women’s Health, Wealth and Power”. One of the main themes of the day was healthcare –
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The end of a year normally leads to reflections on how the preceding 365 days turned out on many different issues.  As  2012 comes to a close, there are reasons to feel confident about how family planning and reproductive rights fared this year. There were three major events that should be
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The New York Times recently posted an editorial titled “A World of Harm for Women” that argued that a Mitt Romney presidential win would harm women’s reproductive rights and extend far beyond the borders of the United States.  It would indeed. Romney has pledged to reinstate the Global Gag Rule. This
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, HowMany.org One of the biggest returns on investment for people and the planet is supporting the health of women and girls, especially in terms of voluntary family planning services. As we recognize the International Day of the Girl this October 11th, it is a good time to go beyond traditional development ideas
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org. As the fighting and political crisis in Syria escalates, the number of people fleeing the turmoil also increases. Nearly 130,000 people have fled Syria and taken refuge in neighboring countries since the conflict began. Globally, the UN estimates that for any crisis situation, one in five women of childbearing age is
[continue reading…]

By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org It’s been quite a week for Rep. Todd Akin. He became front-page news after uttering the sentence “If it is a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” What he called “speaking off the cuff” has led to moral outrage from both women
[continue reading…]

At last week’s London Summit on Family Planning, a high-level gathering hosted by the Gates Foundation and the UK Department for International Development, donors pledged to provide $2.6 billion over the next eight years to help the world’s poorest women gain access to contraceptives.  It has been called a “breakthrough for the world’s poorest women
[continue reading…]