Marie Stopes International in the news
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) ban contraceptives to MSI Following the USAID ban last week on supplying contraceptives to MSI, the organisation has been inundated by statements of support from more than 40 health agencies worldwide. The ban, which forces governments in several African countries to discontinue the provision of US-funded contraceptive commodities to MSI, has generated a huge amount of local and international media coverage. National coverage included
The Guardian and the
Channel 4 news website, while the news story was also carried by overseas press including The Washington Times,
Taipei Times,
The National (UAE) and
The Daily Monitor (Uganda). Support for MSI has been received on the well-respected
RH Reality Check forum and independent news site
Women’s eNews. Further criticism has been levelled at the Bush administration from countries including France, Canada, New Zealand and Sweden. Amy Coen, President / CEO of Population Action International said. “Once again President Bush has shocked and disheartened the European community by playing politics with poor women’s lives. This directive will prevent poor women in many African countries from accessing much needed pregnancy care and modern contraceptives – both important health services that we take for granted in the United States, but that are often out of reach for women in Africa.”
World Contraception Day The second World Contraception Day (WCD) (26 September 2008), which happened to fall on the 40th anniversary year of the United Nations declaring contraception and family planning a basic human right, was marked in countries throughout the world, and the UK was no exception. This year’s campaign aimed to educate young people about making informed choices on contraception under the campaign motto ‘Your body, your life, your choice’. MSI were delighted when media personality, Kelly Osbourne, agreed to act as this year’s global ambassador for WCD - which and equally delighted the entertainment
media! The campaign message was also covered by
economy websites. At an evening event in London, attended by Ms Osbourne, Marie Stopes International Chief Executive Dana Hovig, spoke of the challenges of bringing down the UK’s high teenage pregnancy rate and the need for investment to promote contraception around the world. “We are asking governments to invest more in family planning and sexual and reproductive health education,” said Dana Hovig. “We are asking donors to invest more in family planning and to support private sector initiatives…because we know that family planning, and providing choices, saves lives.”
Georgia fact-finding mission MSI has featured on the
Pulitzer Center’s website, (The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting) with an account of MSI’s recent fact-finding mission to Georgia at the invitation of the European Parliament. The visit took place in the aftermath of the conflict between Georgia and the Russian Federation. MSI, through the RAISE initiative, met with local officials and visited camps in the region to assess the reproductive health needs of women and young people who are now displaced as a result of the fighting. “We hope to share our experience with parliamentarians, in the hope that they will continue to galvanise support for sexual health and reproductive care in crisis situations. Although this need is recognised in terms of humanitarian guidelines, it must remain a priority at the level of policy-making,” said RAISE representative, Louise Lee-Jones.