By Suzanne York. July 11th is officially recognized as World Population Day, a day meant to raise awareness on the impacts of population growth on people and the environment. This year’s theme for World Population Day is “investing in teenage girls.” In much of the world today their needs are shunted to the back burner
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By Suzanne York. What is the role of government when it comes to having babies?  Should the goal be to empower women or promote economic growth? The government of Ethiopia announced earlier this week that it will try to lower its total fertility rate to 2.6 by the year 2020 from the current rate of
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The third annual International Conference on Family Planning ended in mid-November with a focus on successful initiatives and with momentum to enact voluntary family planning services and education for people around the world. The breadth and depth of work undertaken by professionals and activists is exciting.   From addressing maternal mortality to
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org With all the media focus on the NSA spying scandal, you might have missed the news that Egypt and Ethiopia – the second and third most populous countries in Africa, respectively – are coming into a war of words over a proposed dam on the Nile.  Though tensions have eased somewhat,
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org As climate change becomes more of a basic fact of life for many people around the world, one way to adapt is to tap into traditional and ancestral knowledge and practices, especially as it pertains to agriculture.  In Ethiopia, one crop with potential is the false banana. Officially called enset, this
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org As we celebrate Earth Day this year, it is a good time to think about how we can improve not just the environment but also peoples’ lives.  In the face of globalization and the push for endless economic growth, our societies need to determine the best way to grow and where and when it’s needed.
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Ethiopia is the cradle of humankind.  It is also home to an array of animal species.  Yet both people and nature are under threat, mainly due to environmental degradation, poaching, and human population growth. Today there are close to 90 million people in Ethiopia (it is the 2nd most populous nation
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Last month, as a conference was taking place in Ethiopia on the potential of PHE projects (population-health-environment) to empower communities, the United Nations released its 2013 Human Development Report.  This analysis assesses the status of health, education, and wealth in developing countries. While the report, titled The Rise of the South:
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org There is nothing like going out into the field and seeing first-hand what is happening on the ground to validate your work and experience.  That’s when you learn how projects, ideas and initiatives can really work (or in some cases, not work). Here in Ethiopia, after the recent conference of the
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org If you are concerned at all about world population growth, human rights (and especially women’s rights), and protecting the environment, then you should know about how PHE (Population, Health and Environment) programs can effectively address these issues. PHE projects are relatively new in the development sector, but this holistic approach recognizes
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