- Comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Family Planning
- Women, Girls, and HIV
- Maternal Health
- U.S. Foreign Policy & Funding
- Watch: Making U.S. Foreign Assistance Work for Women and Girls in Ethiopia
- Female Condoms and U.S. Foreign Policy
- Family Planning Policy Restrictions and HIV
- U.S. Global Health Initiative
- Global Gag Rule
- Helms Amendment
- Foreign Assistance Budget
- Foreign Assistance Reform
- Kemp-Kasten Amendment
- Abstinence & Fidelity
- Anti-Prostitution Pledge
- Advocacy and Foreign Assistance
- Why Women and Girls?
Maternal Health
Pregnancy continues to carry a high risk of death worldwide, despite numerous commitments to address the issues that fuel maternal mortality. An estimated 500,000 women die each year from complications of pregnancy and childbirth, most from preventable causes. Approximately 74,000 of these deaths are due to unsafe abortion. Millions of women experience serious, debilitating health conditions as a result of pregnancy and childbirth complications each year. Almost all (99 percent) of the world’s maternal deaths and injuries occur in developing countries.
Health systems often do not prioritize maternal health, making maternity care difficult to access. Also, because of women’s low status in many societies, maternal health services are often of poor quality and lack attention to human rights.
Young women are at heightened risk of complications and death during pregnancy and childbirth, particularly those whose bodies are not as developed due to chronic malnutrition. Early child marriage and taboos on adolescent sexuality contribute to teen pregnancies by denying girls the power, information, and tools to postpone childbearing.
AIDS-free Generation? Not Without Women
Women are now the majority of people living with HIV worldwide. The HIV pandemic has changed--our responses have to change with it, or we'll never create an AIDS-free generation.
Take Action
Urge your Senators to Support International Family Planning Funding
Tell your Senators that you support full funding for international family planning and a permanent repeal of the Global Gag Rule.
Take Action
Tell your Representative to Support the United Nations
Congress is now considering a bill (H.R. 2829) that would effectively end our relationship with the United Nations. Act now and tell your Representative to oppose this harmful piece of legislation.
Take Action
Take Action on the Global Gag Rule
Join your voice with others and urge your member of Congress to co-sponsor the Global Democracy Promotion Act of 2011, a bill that would create a legislative barrier to block attempts by a future administration to re-instate the Global Gag Rule.
Take Action
Raise your voice for the Global Sexual and Reproductive Health Act
Ask your Representative to co-sponsor the Global Sexual and Reproductive Health Act (H.R. 1319), newly introduced legislation that promotes a truly comprehensive and integrated approach to U.S. international reproductive health programs.
Take Action
Tell your Representative to Oppose Elimination of International Family Planning Funding
The House is currently debating a spending bill (H.R. 1) that, as it stands, would drastically decrease funding for international family planning and reproductive health, global HIV/AIDS, and maternal and child health programs and services. We need you to speak out for women's health and rights today!
Take Action
Help Make U.S. Global AIDS Programs Work for Women
Send a postcard to Ambassador Goosby, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, and urge him to make U.S. global AIDS programs and policies work harder and better for women and girls worldwide.
Take Action
- Association of Reproductive Health Professionals
- Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA)
- EngenderHealth
- Family Care International
- Family Health International
- Guttmacher Institute
- International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)
- International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC)
- Ipas
- JHPIEGO
- National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA)
- Population Reference Bureau
- Reproductive Health Matters
- Reproductive Health Outlook
- The Global Campaign for Microbicides
Source356,000 - Each year, in developing countries, 356,000 women die from pregnancy-related causes.
Source50% - Only 50% of women who give birth each year receive antenatal, delivery, and newborn care.
Source99% - More than 99% of the estimated 287,000 maternal deaths each year occur in developing countries.
Source15% - Worldwide, nearly 15% of adult women's deaths occur during maternity.
HIV in breastmilk spikes at weaning
The amount of HIV in an infected mother’s breast milk spikes when weaning begins, according to a study published today in Science Translational Medicine1. The findings are likely to add urgency to efforts to ensure that infected mothers without access to formula take antiretroviral drugs throughout and beyond the time that they wean their infants.
The Helms Amendment is America’s foreign policy skeleton in the closet
A few weeks ago, in what has become an arms race to limit reproductive freedom in the United States, North Dakota approved the country's most restrictive abortion ban. Days earlier, that repugnant title was held by Arkansas, and who knows what absurd restriction tomorrow will bring.
Bringing Films and Their ‘Extended Families’ to the 2103 Women Deliver Cinema Corner
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. While attending this year's CSW (Commission on the Status of Women) at the UN these past two weeks, there's one message that's very clear -- words are an incredibly important element of pushing forth the maternal and reproductive health agenda. And that's why its been so exciting to curate the 2013 Women Deliver Cinema Corner, bringing imagery, stories and advocacy together for the betterment of women and girls worldwide.
The Hill’s Congress Blog: Investing in women for our future
Throughout my tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives and on the Committee on Appropriations, I have had the opportunity to help shape U.S. development assistance. And I am proud of the United States’ leadership in providing support and funding for critical global health initiatives that both save lives and strengthen our position in the world.
Can We Save More Than Four Million Children’s Lives In the Next 1,000 Days?
What will you do with the next 1,000 days of your life? Buy a car? Change jobs? Lose those 10 extra pounds? Save the lives of 4.4 million children? On December 31, 2015, 1,000 days from April 6, we'll reach the deadline for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
Safe Breast Milk: Closing in on the ‘Last Mile’ of HIV Prevention for Infants
The man stood up to make his point: "How many of you have ever seen anyone eat an apple whole? I have never! No matter how small the apple, I always see him taking a small bite, and if he likes it, he takes another, and so on..."
Analysis: Nepal’s maternal mortality decline paradox
While health experts applaud Nepal’s declining maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in recent years, they say this gain is unsustainable if the country does not address its lack of qualified health staff, especially midwives, to keep women in childbirth alive
Malawi achieves seven-fold increase in ART for pregnant and breastfeeding women
Eighteen months after implementation of 'Option B+' in Malawi – ART for life for all HIV-infected, pregnant or breastfeeding women regardless of CD4 count or disease stage – the number of HIV-infected pregnant women on ART increased dramatically (763%), with retention rates at twelve months (78%) comparable to that in other adults (81%), researchers reported at the 20th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2013) last week in Atlanta.
What Does Family Planning Have to do With HIV? Everything.
Voluntary family planning is an indispensible component of HIV prevention and treatment.
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File Under: Fact Sheets
Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Ethiopia
On July 5-9, 2010, three U.S. state legislators traveled to Ethiopia to better understand the role of U.S. foreign assistance aimed at improving the quality of reproductive health care. This report documents that trip and makes recommendations for improving effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance to advance the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls in Ethiopia.
Download this PDFFile Under: Research Documents
Fact Sheet: U.S. Global HEALTH Act of 2010
The U.S. Global HEALTH Act of 2010 (H.R. 4933) establishes a strategy to coordinate health-related U.S. foreign assistance and to assist developing countries in strengthening their indigenous health workforces and improving delivery of health services.
Download this PDFFile Under: Fact Sheets
The Case for Comprehensive: Dominican Republic
Rising HIV prevalence for young women and high rates of teen pregnancy are strong indicators of the gaps in the Dominican Republic’s sexual and reproductive health care. Moreover, despite the fact that almost all births are attended by skilled providers, maternal mortality is alarmingly high.
Download this PDFFile Under: Country Profiles
The Case for Comprehensive: Botswana
Botswana appears to be a series of contradictions. Although economically better off than its neighbors, with relatively good roads, solid communications network, and 24-hour hospitals fairly well distributed throughout the country, Botswana nevertheless has serious barriers to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care.
Download this PDFFile Under: Country Profiles
Maternal Health Topics
Rights-Based Maternity Services
The Dominican Republic has high rates of maternal mortality, yet almost all women technically have skilled attendants at birth.
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