When girls stay in school and get an education, poverty has no chance

July 11 is World Population Day and this year we commemorate it at a time when the world is reeling from the global economic crisis. No one knows yet what the full scale of this global economic crisis will look like. But it is a fact that women and children in developing countries will bear the brunt of the impact.
Government budgets may be cut and women and children will definitely suffer. Investments in health and infrastructure, water and sanitation are likely to be cut while sexual and reproductive health services will likely suffer although the United Nations Population Fund reports that each dollar invested in reducing unmet need for contraceptive services will avoid about USD$2 to $4 in expenditures on maternal and newborn health.

Investments in education and health for women and girls have been linked to increases in productivity, agricultural yields, and national income — all of which contribute to the achievement of the MDGs. Investments by governments worldwide have raised school enrolment rates, narrowed the gender gap in education, brought life-saving drugs to people living with AIDS, expanded HIV prevention, delivered bed nets to prevent malaria, and improved child health through immunisation.
Now that there is a crisis, can we as a region be assured of continued investments in women and girls or shall we start seeing a reversal of some of the gains achieved over the past few years.

Key Issues:

• There is need for journalists across the region to lobby for continued investments  in education and health for children and women
• Reproductive health services are a right for every woman. There is need for the media to check if contraception and reproductive health services are easily accessible in their country, even during this time when countries are faced with potential funding cuts.
• As the world commemorates World Population Day, it is important to highlight that knowing one’s HIV status is one way of making a new start in life
• Educated women are more likely to use contraception, plan families and get tested for HIV before having a baby. There is need for the media to ensure that all women, irrespective of education or status, have access to information about family planning and HIV prevention, treatment, care and support
• It is also important to check and lobby for scaling up of availability of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) services for pregnant women as a means of preventing child deaths.
• The media needs to advocate through coverage, for youth programmes. This includes youth friendly clinics and counseling services, school based interventions and peer education. Special attention should be paid to the issue of early marriages, which some children are being forced into so that their parents can eke out a living
• It is important to see how your country is commemorating the occasion, are there special activities planned in your country? The media should highlight these and participate in them and share the information with their audiences.
• It is also crucial to check if people in your country are aware of World Population Day. If not, through your stories and programmes, you can raise awareness of the issues around World Population Day
• Ensure that the voices of girls, women and men are heard at this time and share their stories of triumph and challenges

Sources:
www.dsd.gov
www.unfpa.org
www.bo-medicine.org/medicine-news
www.safaids.net