EUROPEAN UNION: Foreign RH Aid Sparks Debate
Euractiv.com on 4 February reported that according to health advocates, conservatives who oppose using EU development aid to finance family planning have succeeding in reducing support for reproductive health services in poorer nations. The EU’s role in supporting reproductive health and birth control and financing the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) escalated a decade ago when George W. Bush set out to revamp American aid priorities, shifting money away from ideologically divisive reproductive and women’s health programmes to the more popular fight against malaria and AIDS. Read in English: Euractiv.com
POLAND: Unsafe Abortions Threaten Thousands
IPS news on 14 Nvoember reported that pressure from the Catholic Church, social stigma, a lack of information about sexuality and reproductive health and limited access to reproductive healthcare services are putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of women across Eastern Europe at risk. “The reproductive health situation in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is quite dire. The contraceptive prevalence rate in some countries is as low as (the rate) in least developed countries,” said Werner Haug, director of the UNFPA’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia regional office. Read in English: IPS
POLAND: Children at the Altar
Rzeczpospolita reported on 13 March on child marriage. Every day, teenage girls are forced to live with much older mnn. Young girls are treated like a commodity, kidnapped, sold by their relatives, or killed when they try to escape from their husbands. “Investing in young women’s health and education can enable them to be better educated, delay marriage and help them get a job to support themselves and their future family. This is smart economics. It will ensure the well-being of a whole generation and contribute to economic development in their country," said Pernille Fenger, Chief of the UNFPA Nordic Office. According to estimates, in 2005-2015 there will be 100 million girls married before age 18; approximately one in seven of these girls will be under 15. Read in Polish: Rzeczpospolita