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Family Planning Stories From the Field: Mali
As advocates for domestic and international family planning, the Global Population and Environment Program works to highlight family planning success stories within the U.S. and abroad. It is imperative that we understand the intrinsic connections between women's health and the health of the environment so that we can better advocate for U.S. support of family planning and reproductive health programs around the world. Planned Parenthood Global Partners From 2002-2003, Planned Parenthood of Southern New Jersey (PPSNJ) successfully partnered with the Albanian Family Planning Association known as Shoqata Shqiptare e Planifikimit Familjar. Starting in 2004, PPSNJ began a second Global Partnership with the Association Maliene pour la Promotion et la Protection de la Famille (AMMPF) of Mali, Africa. Global Partners in Mali
Some of the consequences include:
The Global Gag Rule will continue to have serious ramifications as the fertility rate in Mali has recently risen to 6.7 and only 6% of women use a modern form of contraception.
While in Mali, we visited the two hospitals that provide treatment for women who experience obstetric fistula. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that one woman per every two Malian villages has this condition. UNFPA recently launched the imperative Global Campaign to End Fistula, yet the United States continues to withhold funds from UNFPA (approximately 13% of the fund's annual budget) based on false allegations of its support of forced sterilization/abortions in China. Planned Parenthood representatives also saw the effects caused by financial cuts made to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria. As a result, there is an increased need to divert prevention funds to treatment funds. A recent study indicated that 50%of women do not know how to protect themselves and 75% of young people do not think they are at risk of HIV/AIDS. This fall, representatives from AMPPF will visit the United States. They will meet with federal legislators and attend several advocacy events focusing not only on funding cuts and restrictions but also on the role of Islam in reproductive health in Mali and in other countries.
Photo courtesy Planned Parenthood Southern New Jersey.
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Representatives from PPSNJ traveled to Mali in February 2005 to visit our new Global Partner. We learned first-hand how the Global Gag Rule is affecting family planning services throughout the country. According to the Global Gag Rule, international family planning agencies may not receive U.S. funds if they provide abortion services, including counseling or referrals, or lobby to make or keep abortion legal in their own country, even with their own non-U.S. funds. Since AMPPF refused to sign onto the restriction, the agency has lost $10 million annually since 2001.