NEW YORK, July 7 – While the full scale of the global economic crisis is not yet known, women and children in the developing world will bear the brunt of the impact, according to several studies.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement that cost-cutting has affected everyone. “But our work for the women of the world must continue undiminished. When you empower a woman, you empower a family. When you empower a woman, you change the world,” the statement said.
New World Bank Figures
Meanwhile, new preliminary World Bank figures show that while official global development aid for health soared from $2.9 billion in 1995 to $14.1 billion in 2007, roughly a five-fold increase in 12 years, aid for population and reproductive health rose much more modestly during the same period, from $901 million in 1995 to $1.9 billion in 2007.
In the 35 highest-fertility countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, aid for women’s family planning and reproductive programs started at $150 million in 1995 and increased to $432 million in 2007, while overall aid for health in these 35 countries went from $915 million in 1995 to $4.9 billion in 2007.
Support for population and reproductive health programs has significantly declined as a percentage of overall health aid, from about 30 percent in 1994 to 12 percent in 2008, the report said.
In March, the World Bank cautioned that the economic crisis could lead to increases in infant and maternal deaths, the number of girls dropping out of school, and violence against women and girls. The crisis is also pushing more families into extreme poverty and forcing countries to spend less on public health information and services. It could reverse progress in women’s empowerment and in meeting the Millennium Development Goals.
Worldwide, an estimated 200 million women would like to delay or prevent a pregnancy but are not using effective contraception. In the poorest countries, fewer than one in ten women are using such methods. Meanwhile, demand for contraceptives is expected to grow by 40 percent in the next 15 years.
Click here to see a World Bank feature on maternal health.
UNFPA, World Bank Take the Lead
Last week, the World Bank and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, co-hosted an event to celebrate World Population Day and highlight the importance of investing in women.
“I do not think that any of the crises we are facing today—whether it is the food crisis, the water crisis, the financial crisis or the crisis of climate change, can be managed unless greater attention is paid to population issues,” said UNFPA executive director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid. She called for stronger action to implement the Programme of Action that was adopted in 1994 at the International Conference on Population and Development.
“Now more than ever, in these times of global economic crisis, I call on decision-makers to increase resources for reproductive health, including family planning, so we can make greater progress for women and families,” Obaid said. “There is no smarter investment, with such high economic and social returns, than investing in the health and rights of adolescent girls and women.”
World Bank Managing Director Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said, “It is important to protect women in this crisis. But let us not look at women only as vulnerable or as victims. We should also understand how women can be agents of change, and why investing in them is a smart way to help rebuild the economies of the world. If done right, we will emerge with a healthier pattern of growth than the one that brought us the crisis. And we will be on a faster track to reducing poverty and boosting development.”
Joy Phumaphi, vice president for human development at the World Bank and chair of the event, noted “Even before this crisis began, family planning and reproductive health had fallen off the radar of low-income countries, aid donors and development agencies — with the result that we’ve lost precious time in helping women get access to these vital health services, and helping countries get on a faster track to reducing poverty.”
On behalf of the Obama administration, Margaret Pollack, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, told the luncheon that falling birth rates cannot be achieved through better health programs alone.
"We have seen time and time again that investing in women is an investment in families, communities, and societies. It is, in other words, an investment in our future. The United States is engaged and committed, and we look forward to working in partnership to ensure a world in which women are healthy, respected, and their rights are protected," Pollack said.
UNFPA Convenes Family Planning Experts
At a related meeting convened by UNFPA, 30 family planning experts from around the world last week reviewed innovative programs that have succeeded in increasing access to contraceptives and other reproductive health services among poor and hard-to-reach people.
As part of the conference, there was an audio press conference on June 30. Three experts discussed the status of family planning in the developing world and its impact on population dynamics and inequality. They also presented results from innovative and successful programmes to increase access to family planning, explained how poverty and social status impact access, and shared the latest information on funding needed for global access to family planning.
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