International Violence Against Women Act Introduced in U.S. Congress Washington, February 4 – The International Violence Against women Act (I-VAWA) was introduced here today in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Violence against women is a human rights violation and a worldwide pandemic - approximately 1 out of every 3 women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.
The I-VAWA supports innovative approaches to ending violence against women globally by promoting services for survivors, holding perpetrators accountable and challenging public attitudes that condone such violence. The bill is a five-year, $1 billion plan that authorizes projects in 10 to 20 countries which have severe levels of violence against women and girls.
I-VAWA would make violence against women worldwide a priority of the United States government and an enhanced component of its foreign policy and foreign assistance programmes.
The bill was introduced by Senator Kerry (D-MA) and Senator Boxer (D-CA) and by Representatives William Delahunt (D-MA), Ted Poe (R-TX), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL).
In introducing the bill, Senator Kerry said "This bill will protect women everywhere, and it turns out that championing these values is also an extremely effective and cost-efficient way to advance America's foreign assistance goals and strengthen our national security."
Reports note that this is the first time a bill introduced to the U.S. Congress has comprehensively incorporated legal, economic and health protection for women into all U.S. foreign assistance programs.
For more information, visit: Amnesty International USA, Women Thrive Worldwide and Family Violence Prevention Fund.
Coverage on Maternal and Infant Health in Haiti January 29 -- Recent coverage on earthquake-devastated Haiti has highlighted maternal and infant health and the important work UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund is doing in the country to assist the thousands of women and their infants at risk from complications related to pregnancy and child birth.
CNN reported last night on the challenges facing newborns in Haiti following the earthquake. To view the video, Babies’ Survival Unsure, with reporting from Dr. Sanjay Gupta, click here.
NOW on PBS will air a documentary on maternal health in Haiti tonight.
When the earthquake struck on January 12, a NOW crew was in Haiti, working on a story about maternal health and women dying in childbirth, an ongoing emergency in the country. Haiti has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, and the highest in the Western Hemisphere.
The devastating earthquake has exacerbated existing problems surrounding maternal mortality, including lack of access to quality health care. Approximately 63,000 women in Port-au-Prince are pregnant, 7,000 of whom will deliver in the coming month, according to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. Additionally, 15% of all pregnant women will also require care for life threatening pregnancy complications.
The documentary features UNFPA and Family Care International, among others, who outline the positive work that was happening in Haiti prior to the earthquake and must continue, as it is needed now more than ever.
The documentary is scheduled to air Friday evening, January 29. For air times, please visit, http://www.pbs.org/now/sched.html. The documentary will be available online on Friday evening.
U.S. Teen Pregnancy Rate Increases After Decade Long Decline, New Report Says Washington, January 26 – Teen pregnancy in the United States rose by 3% in 2006, signaling a major shift in more than a decade, according to a new report by the Guttmacher Institute.
U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions: National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity explains the increase on widespread “sex education programs aimed exclusively at promoting abstinence—and prohibited by law from discussing the benefits of contraception.”
The report states teen pregnancy declined 41% between its peak in 1990 and 2005. Similarly, teen birth and abortion rates declined, with births dropping 35% between 1991 and 2005 and teen abortion declining 56% between its peak, in 1988, and 2005. However, in 2006, the situation reversed.
In a press release, Heather Boonstra, Guttmacher Institute senior public policy associate called the increase “deeply troubling” and noted “how it coincided with the abstinence-only sex education programs, which received major funding boosts under the Bush administration.”
Boonstra added “A strong body of research shows that these programs do not work. Fortunately, the heyday of this failed experiment has come to an end with the enactment of a new teen pregnancy prevention initiative that ensures that programs will be age-appropriate, medically accurate and, most importantly, based on research demonstrating their effectiveness.”
Lawrence Finer, Guttmacher’s director of domestic research, added
“It is too soon to tell whether the increase in the teen pregnancy rate between 2005 and 2006 is a short term fluctuation, a more lasting stabilization or the beginning of a significant new trend, any of which would be of great concern.”
For more information:
U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions: National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity
Facts on American Teens’ Sexual and Reproductive Health
Secretary of State Clinton Delivers Major Speech Renewing U.S. Support For Universal Access to Reproductive Health Worldwide For more information, visit www.ICPD2015.org
Washington, January 8 -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a major speech today to mark the 15th year of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). Secretary Clinton announced the U.S. Government’s renewed support for and dedication to reaching the ICPD goals and other related UN agreements, including the Millennium Development Goals, by 2015.
The Secretary said that “women’s health is essential to the prosperity and health of all people,” and that the U.S. has rejoined with all governments to “make the access to reproductive healthcare a basic right”.
A video archive of the speech is available on www.icpd2015.org. (A copy of the speech will be posted shortly.) C-SPAN 2 also broadcast the speech live on cable systems around the United States. An archive of the C-SPAN 2 broadcast is available on its Web site.
Background
At the 1994 ICPD held in Cairo, Egypt, 179 nations reached consensus on actions needed to achieve universal access to education, especially for girls; reductions in infant, child and maternal mortality, and universal access to reproductive health over the next 20 years.
Many United Nations conferences and international meetings have reaffirmed the ICPD "Cairo Consensus", including the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, that established the Beijing Platform for Action, and the 2000 Millennium Summit, that established the Millennium Development Goals. These mutually reinforcing commitments are the cornerstones of population and development policies for the international community.
Recent polls show that a majority of Americans across the ideological spectrum strongly support the principles in the worldwide consensus reached at the ICPD, including providing voluntary family planning and reproductive health services.
Millions of lives have been improved and saved through effective and affordable reproductive health programs, which have proven to prevent the deaths of women and children, reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, grow economies and preserve natural resources.
United Nations and non-governmental leaders agree that though successful programs exist, far more progress needs to be made, including a a sustained, long-term commitment by both the public and private sectors. Tamara Kreinin, Executive Director of Women and Population at the United Nations Foundation, said “UNFPA, NGOs, bilateral donors, and developing country governments have all contributed significantly to implementing the ICPD agenda to help women and girls around the world over the past fifteen years."
Ms. Kreinin added, "Each of these sectors knows exactly what interventions save women’s lives and build healthy families and communities. The key is for the commitment and partnership among them, particularly that of our own government, to remain focused and consistent. It is indeed exciting to hear Secretary Clinton reaffirm the U.S.’s commitment.”
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