The 2011 International Conference on Family Planning in Dakar, Senegal, was the largest gathering of family planning researchers, advocates, and policymakers in history. PRB organized workshops on youth policy communications and how NGOs can work with the media; trained presenters to give ENGAGE presentations in their home countries; and chaired panel sessions ranging from experiences in population, health, and environment programs, to working with the media to get family planning in the news in Senegal, to new research on family planning and poverty from the PopPov network, and more.
Video
This short video features some of PRB's work at the conference and reflections from a youth policy communications workshop, a training session for ENGAGE presenters, and from PRB Women's Edition journalists.
Blog Posts
Population, Health, and Environment Champions Bring Their Experiences From the Field to the International Family Planning Conference (by Jason Bremner, program director, Population, Health, and Environment)
Looking Back at Dakar (by Jay Gribble, vice president, International Programs)
The Whole Truth: Thinking About the Risk of Contracting HIV When Using Injectable Contraception (by Jay Gribble, vice president, International Programs)
Building Trust Between Government and Media in Senegal – A True Story (by Eric Zuehlke, web communications manager)
World AIDS Day at ICFP 2011 (by Jay Gribble, vice president, International Programs)
Couple Dynamics in Family Planning; Men Advancing Family Planning; Engaging Men in Family Planning: How? Why? (by Kate Gilles, policy analyst)
Youth: A Breath of Fresh Air (by Jay Gribble, vice president, International Programs)
What is the Way Forward For Demographic Inequalities? (by Jay Gribble, vice president, International Programs)
Youth Take the Lead at ICFP 2011 Policy Communications Workshop (by Eric Zuehlke, web communications manager)
Opening of ICFP 2011 Urges Participants to Build on Momentum Toward Family Planning (by Eric Zuehlke, web communications manager)
Dakar: 2011 ICFP Opening is Hours Away (by Jay Gribble, vice president, International Programs)
Women's Edition Field Visit
Twelve PRB Women's Edition journalists from 11 developing countries traveled to two local villages, Keur Simbara and Saam Njaay, during the 2011 International Conference on Family Planning to witness the lessons and successes of the Tostan Community Empowerment Program in encouraging the abandonment of female genital cutting and fostering human rights and democracy.
Keur Simbara was one of the first villages to abandon female genital cutting. Villagers welcomed the journalists with music, skits, and words of wisdom from Demba Diawara, the Imam who joined with Molly Melching, Tostan's executive director, in spreading the commitment to abandonment. The village now is also a showcase for solar energy, having sent one of its women to Barefoot College in India for training; for its work with a former excisor who has been retrained as a peanut grower; for a health hut where family planning knowledge and options are dispensed; and for the personal commitment of Demba Diawara, who has now visited 347 villages to encourage abandonment. And, of course, for the bright-eyed girls who continue their education, marry later, know their rights, and dance an "Empowerment Dance" for their visitors.
Women's Edition Journalists' Blog Posts and Reports
Demba and the Village of Keur Simbara
A Quiet Welcome
Involving Men in Family Planning
by Rina Jimenez-David, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Bringing in a Change, The Tostan Way
by Shai Venkatraman, NDTV, India
Auxiliary Workshops
How to Participate, Communicate, and Advocate: A Pre-Conference Workshop to Increase Youth Participation in the 2011 International Conference on Family Planning
Tuesday, Nov. 29, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
With funding from USAID under the Informing DEcisionmakers to Act (IDEA) Project, PRB will work with a cadre of young people to strengthen their skills to network, advocate, and communicate about youth issues to individuals and organizations participating at the conference as well as in their respective countries. At the same time, youth participants will work together as a community to leverage advocacy efforts for youth sexual and reproductive health and other important issues. The one-day pre-conference workshop will focus on developing and communicating key messages through various platforms (social media, policymakers, the media) and orienting youth participants to the opportunities available to them at the conference.
Training NGOs to Work with the Media
Nov. 29, 2011, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
This workshop is designed for communication staff from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) who want to gain basic skills necessary to work with the media. Participants will learn how to approach the media with greater confidence and improve their media coverage. NGOs that can deliver their messages to the media effectively, in turn, help journalists to report more accurately. The skills taught will include how to write a news release, how to develop your message, how to interview during a news conference, and how to respond to stories that may be inaccurate. A PRB-trained journalist will assist at the sessions.
Making the Connection: Family Planning and Climate Change
Tuesday, Nov. 29, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
The Population Reference Bureau and Population Action International are organizing a workshop to offer policymakers and family planning advocates the opportunity to explore and discuss the links between population and climate change and the role that family planning plays in adapting to climate change. Climate change poses one of the greatest challenges for health and development in the 21st century. Countries in the developing world least-responsible for emissions are likely to suffer the greatest impacts. Recent experts meetings have discussed rapid population growth and its role in increasing vulnerability to the consequences of climate change, but family planning has received little attention as a response to climate change.
The goal of this workshop is to create a cadre of policymakers and advocates who are knowledgeable about population and climate change and who are empowered to participate in discussions of the role of social adaptation strategies, including family planning, in national development and climate change action plans and organizational strategies that address climate change planning and implementation.
Advancing Advocacy With ENGAGE Presentations: An Orientation to "Family Planning: Pathway to Poverty Reduction"
Thursday, Dec. 1, 6-8 p.m.
The ENGAGE presentation entitled "Family Planning: Pathway to Poverty Reduction" seeks to improve individuals' understanding of how family planning contributes to economic growth and poverty reduction at the family, community, and national levels, and to reposition family planning higher on national and local policy agendas in sub-Saharan Africa. During this auxiliary session, PRB will disseminate the ENGAGE presentation and will build the capacity of individuals to effectively use and give the presentation to various policy audiences including government policymakers, civic and religious leaders, health-sector leaders, program officials, family planning advocates, and journalists.
Project Launch: Lake Victoria Basin Integrated Population, Health, and Environment Project
Thursday, Dec. 1, 7-9 p.m.
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and USAID's Office of Population and Reproductive Health are joining in partnership to support an integrated community-managed Population, Health, and Environment Initiative in the Lake Victoria Basin region, to be implemented by Pathfinder International and its local partners, Ecological Christian Organization and Conservation Through Public Health in Uganda, and Osienala-Friends of Lake Victoria in Kenya. This event will be the formal launch and celebration of this two-country initiative. Speakers will present the need and rationale for this multisectoral program, potential strategies, and the importance of a regional partnership to bring family planning, and maternal and reproductive health services to the most neglected communities living in and around Lake Victoria, where health and livelihoods are threatened by ecosystem degradation and natural resource depletion.
How to Participate, Communicate, and Advocate Beyond Dakar: A Post-Conference Workshop for Youth
Friday, Dec. 2, 6-8 p.m.
At the close of the International Family Planning Conference in Dakar, PRB will lead a two-hour post-conference workshop with youth, continuing to build on their policy communications and advocacy skills while at the same time examining what youth participants learned during the conference. Youth participants will identify key opportunities for leveraging advocacy efforts among each other and other partners in the year ahead and will identify strategies for applying workshop lessons and communication skills in their respective countries.
PANEL SESSIONS
1.2.13: Reaching the Hardly Reached: Delivering Family Planning Through Population, Health, and Environment
Wednesday, Nov. 30, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
Over the past decade, conservation organizations have sought ways to meet the health and development needs of remote populations living in and around conservation areas. Because these communities are rural and remote, they are often beyond the reach of the public health care system. Conservation and development organizations who are often the only groups working in these areas have developed integrated field-based efforts known as population-health-environment (PHE) projects to respond to community requests for health services including family planning and sustainable livelihoods. This panel will bring together a group of innovative projects that are meeting family planning needs in some of the hardest-to-reach areas through innovative partnerships and integration of family planning with conservation and livelihood initiatives. The aim of the session is to highlight results from these projects and illustrate a model of family planning service delivery through partnerships with environmental and development institutions.
1.4.11: Investigating Policy-Relevant Outcomes/Effects of Reproductive Health and Family Planning
Wednesday, Nov. 30, 4-5:30 p.m.
This panel provides an overview of the Population and Poverty Research (PopPov) Network's research agenda and results that demonstrate the potential policy impact of rigorous efforts to evaluate the impact of family planning and reproductive health programs. PopPov research focuses on investigating the causal links between population, population dynamics, reproductive health, and economic outcomes at the household, community, and national levels. This research agenda has been undertaken with the intent to provide evidence of important links that may need to be considered in development planning and policy, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This panel presents an overview of advances made in researching these issues within the network, highlighting research approaches that demonstrate causal links and policy-relevant results. The panel objectives are:
- To describe the research agenda and range of research approaches supported within the Population and Poverty Research Network.
- To present innovative approaches and use of data in investigating causal links between population, population dynamics, reproductive health, and economic outcomes at the household, community, and national levels.
- To provide examples of policy-relevant results from research undertaken by network members.
- To present results that identify short, medium, and long-term economic effects of family planning and reproductive health outcomes on households and individuals.
2.3.11: What's in Your Toolbox? State-of-the-Art Planning and Advocacy Tools for Family Planning
Thursday, Dec. 1, 2-3:30 p.m.
As demand for new and innovative approaches to presenting and sharing information continues to grow, family planning (FP) advocates need to package messages and communicate data in stimulating ways to promote dialogue and compel decisionmakers to act. Yet stakeholders may be unfamiliar with using evidence effectively to engage their intended audiences. This panel will introduce three innovative tools that facilitate the use of widely available data for FP advocacy and program planning: (1) The ENGAGE presentation entitled "Family Planning: Pathway to Poverty Reduction," which uses state-of-the-art techniques in graphic design and the cutting-edge Trendalyzer to examine the relationship between FP and Millennium Development Goal 1; (2) Reality Check, an interactive Excel-based tool that applies demographic data to inform planning by estimating FP users, adopters, commodities, and caseload; and (3) the Excel-based Invest-FP Calculator, an interactive, country-specific advocacy tool, which can help decisionmakers explore different scenarios for expanding FP service delivery to meet contraceptive goals.
2.4.07: Making the News in Senegal: How FP/RH Policy Issues Get Public Attention
Thursday, Dec. 1, 4-5:30 p.m.
The panel will examine the role of the media in influencing FP/RH policies and programs in Senegal by bringing together local journalists and policymakers to talk about their unique roles and the challenges they face. It will focus on how the reproductive health department of Senegal's Ministry of Health and Prevention has developed a productive relationship with the media and how media coverage of child marriage in Senegal is leading to policy changes. The panel will feature journalists and policymakers who will talk about their experiences in addressing these key issues. The journalists will address how they became interested in reporting on FP/RH issues, how they learned about the key issues they have reported on, their approaches in pitching FP/RH stories to their editors, and the consequences of their reporting. The policymakers will focus on why these policy issues are especially important, how they worked with the media to improve coverage, how they use the media to advance the FP/RH policy agenda, and how to maintain momentum on these issues.