EACH year there are more than 76 million unwanted pregnancies worldwide.
Many women have little access to family planning information, services and methods. More than half of these are aborted – up to 80 thousand women die from unsafe abortions. The remaining 30 million plus pregnancies go to full term, resulting in tens of millions of unwanted children coming into the world, most of them destined for a life of grinding poverty.
Arguably, the main cause of world poverty and hunger is over-population, and unfortunately most foreign aid does nothing to address this.
A stark example of this is in Ethiopia. Twenty years ago we had the Live Aid concerts, and millions of dollars was raised and given to alleviate the famine in Ethiopia. Since then a substantial amount of aid has been given each year. Despite that, more Ethiopians face starvation today than twenty years ago.
The reason why is because the population of the country has nearly doubled, there is not enough land to feed the current population, and the land has now been so over-farmed that large areas have been degraded and are no longer able to be used. Aid agencies have generally concentrated on basic food aid, and have largely ignored long-term development aid, particularly family planning aid.
Another couple of examples are Niger and East Timor. These nations share the dubious honour of having the highest birth rates in the world. They are also amongst the poorest nations in the world. Niger is currently experiencing a serious food shortage, which should come as no surprise given the dryness of the country and the fast rate of population growth.
A new report from East Timor shows the average woman there gives birth to around eight children. The study shows the country has the highest recorded population rate in the world of nearly 4 per cent. The country’s population growth is tipped to double within two decades to nearly two million.
In the years from 2000 to 2003, women were bearing an average of 7.8 children each, higher than for any other country listed in the latest United Nations demographic assessment. One-third of women aged between 20 and 35 have had a baby in any given year. The report says, compared to other countries, there is little knowledge or practice in East Timor of contraception, and only 0.5 per cent of all men surveyed had ever used a condom. The report warns continued population growth will place a serious strain on the country’s resources.
Unfortunately Western governments, and non-government aid agencies are doing very little to reduce population growth in developing nations.
Even reputable organisations like Oxfam and Medicins Sans Frontieres put very little effort into family planning programs. If people wish to do something about this personally they can, by donating directly to family planning organisations. A non-profit international agency that focuses exclusively on family planning and reproductive health is Marie Stopes International. Marie Stopes International provides reproductive and sexual health services to over 40 countries in the developing world, delivering sustainable reproductive health services to 4.1 million clients and providing sexual reproductive health and HIV education and training to many more millions.
Marie Stopes International Australia works with local partners and governments to provide vital reproductive health services in low income communities in Asia and the Pacific. Web: http://www.mariestopes.org.au/help-donation-mail.html. Free call: 1800 222 114. Mail: Marie Stopes International Australia, P.O. Box 6308, St Kilda Road Central, Melbourne VIC 8008.
Another organisation which does similar work is IPPF (International Planned Parenthood Federation), web: http://new.ippf.org/ContentController.aspx?ID=377.
Tom Nilsson is President, Sustainable Population Australia, Tasmania Branch
