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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Direct Link to Full Family Planning 2020 Report:</b> <a href="http://progress.familyplanning2020.org/">
http://progress.familyplanning2020.org/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/contraception-rise-69-poorest-countries-report-181118190641490.html">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/contraception-rise-69-poorest-countries-report-181118190641490.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:15.0pt;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;background:#FCFCFC">
<span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue",serif;color:black">Contraception Use on the Rise in 69 Poorest Countries: Report<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:7.5pt;background:#FCFCFC"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:#737373">Since 2012, over 46 million women in the world's lowest income countries got access to contraception, new report
says.</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue",serif;color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue",serif;color:#333333"><img border="0" width="681" height="383" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D481C5.503D6BD0" alt="Although sex education is part of the issue, family planning encompasses more topics [Erik De Castro/Reuters]"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",serif;color:#333333">Although sex education is part of the issue, family planning encompasses more topics [Erik De Castro/Reuters]</span><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",serif;color:black">By
<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/profile/yarno-ritzen.html"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">Yarno Ritzen</span></a></span><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",serif;color:#333333"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue",serif;color:#333333"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue",serif;color:#333333">19 Nov 2018 -
</span><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Almost 46 million women and girls in the world's lowest-income countries have gained access to contraception over the past six years, a new <a href="http://progress.familyplanning2020.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#005079">progress
report</span></a> from Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) has said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Currently, 317 million women and girls have access to contraceptives in the 69 lowest-income countries, according to FP2020, a global
organisation that was formed in 2012 after a summit on family planning in London.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Al Jazeera spoke to Beth Schlachter, FP2020's executive director, about how contraception empowers women and societies, which countries
are doing better than expected, and what the main challenges are in the efforts to raise awareness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">The interview below has been slightly edited for clarity and brevity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Al Jazeera: What is FP2020, and what are its goals?</span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Beth Schlachter</span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">: Family Planning 2020 was started in 2012. We wanted
to bring the focus back on issues around family planning and contraception because we felt it had slipped from the development agenda.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Our goal by 2020 is to reach an additional 120 million women and girls who want to use contraceptives but don't have access to these services
or products and to improve the health systems in general.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">We focused specifically on the 69 lowest-income countries in the world to reach these 120 million women.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Al Jazeera: How do you plan to achieve your goal? </span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Schlachter: </span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">The core of our work consists of partnerships with those
69 countries, and then focusing on what the country itself sets as goals in a way that would allow other development partners and donors to align behind, and partner with, them to achieve their goal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">When a country makes its own commitments about what it wants to achieve, we work with them to analyse on how they can get there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Many countries make commitments like raising their budget, giving an amount or percentage for that increase.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Others give a number of people they want to reach, or something very specific like access to condoms.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Our help is very practical, and a lot of education goes with it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Al Jazeera: What have the results been over the past six years?</span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Schlachter:</span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"> There are 317 million women and girls who have access
to contraceptives in those 69 countries, which is about 46 million people more than in 2012 when we started this project.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">That's 30 percent more than our prediction if we hadn't started this partnership.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">We realise this means that we're off-track to reach our goal of reaching 120 million women by 2020, and we recognise that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Our current projections show that we'll get there around 2025.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Al Jazeera: Why is contraception and family planning in general so important?</span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Schlachter:</span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"> The number of children in a family has a lot of impact
on other goals - not only for the family but a country as a whole.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">We want girls to stay in school and be educated. When women are educated and enter the workforce, every community and every society has
a much better chance of raising their economic prospect.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">It empowers people to control every aspect of their life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">For example, in Afghanistan, where there are really high numbers of child marriage, there is <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/06/60-percent-afghan-girls-school-report-180603150117803.html"><span style="color:#005079">a
higher chance these girls will stay in school</span></a>, even if they're married young, when they have access to contraception.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Al Jazeera: What are some of the countries that have made significant progress over the past few years?</span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Schlachter:</span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"> Some of the biggest progress has been in Rwanda and Burkina
Faso, two countries that have set goals and striven to achieve them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">In these countries, we've seen a big increase in the different number of products available for women, and that's important because women
want and need different products as they grow older.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Another country that has seen a lot of growth is Afghanistan, which is a very complex environment to work in.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Now, 1.2 million women are using modern contraception, and that's almost a third more than what we saw in 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Al Jazeera: What are some of the main problems you've encountered, and which countries specifically have been hard to work in?</span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Schlachter:</span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"> There are still big social, cultural, religious and familial
barriers - that is a global phenomenon.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">The fact that women should have autonomy over their bodies is something that is still an issue in a lot of places.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">It is also hard to make it clear that this is not something that is just about women, it is also about men. In a healthy relationship,
both sides should have an open conversation about if, when and how many kids they want.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">A country that has been really hard to achieve anything is Nigeria, especially the northeastern Lake Chad region.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">There, women sometimes have five, six, seven kids, and that is not a realistic way of solving the issues these people have.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">The Nigerian government has had real issues with reaching people in this area, and in the coming decades, this will lead to significant
problems if something is not done.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Al Jazeera: What is an important part of this issue that you think should not be forgotten?</span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">Schlachter:</span></b><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black"> It's really important to focus on large humanitarian crises
like in Bangladesh, where thousands of <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/topics/subjects/rohingya.html"><span style="color:#005079">Rohingya</span></a> women that have fled from Myanmar now live.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">A lot of <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/09/rohingya-refugees-share-stories-sexual-violence-170929095909926.html"><span style="color:#005079">these
women were sexually violated</span></a> when they fled and are now traumatised because of that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">I want to credit the Bangladesh government because they are doing the best they can to help these women.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">What this issue highlights is that women don't stop being pregnant simply because they're on the move. It's really important that we consider
the health needs of these women, especially in vulnerable situations like this.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">And, overall, what I think is most important is that we want to show girls and women in these countries that they have more value than
just being a mother. We want to show them that they can be teachers or scientists.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">This is when societies can grow, when women are offered the opportunity the same opportunity as men. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:15.0pt;background:#FCFCFC"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif;color:black">______________________________<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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