Population Action International

Population Action International

Type	Nonprofit, NGO
Founded	1965, under the name Population Crisis Committee
Location	Washington, DC, United States
Focus	Reproductive health and family planning
Method	Research and Advocacy
Website	populationaction.org

Population Action International (PAI) is an international nongovernmental organization that uses research and advocacy to improve global access to family planning and reproductive health care. Its mission is to "ensure that every person has the right and access to sexual and reproductive health, so that humanity and the natural environment can exist in balance with fewer people living in poverty." PAI's headquarters are in Washington, DC.

History

Population Action International was founded in 1965 as the Population Crisis Committee by Hugh Moore, Lammot du Pont Copeland, and William Henry Draper Jr. PAI’s early successes include playing a role in the establishment of an Office of Population within the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the establishment of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and raising private funds for the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).

PAI participated in the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo which called for universal access to a range of population-related programs. It has subsequently participated in the annual U.N. Commission on Population and Development. In 2010, PAI president Suzanne Ehlers served as a U.S. delegate to the Commission.

Profile

PAI promotes economic development, improved health, and environmental sustainability through the advocacy of increased funding for family planning and sexual and reproductive health services worldwide. The organization monitors the impact of U.S. policies and programs overseas, and fosters the development of United States and international policy on urgent population and reproductive health issues. Internationally, PAI provides partner organizations with financial resources and technical assistance.

PAI's research and analysis focuses on key issues for reproductive health policy: improving access to reproductive health care, funding, and mobilizing political will to support family planning. PAI conducts research on country demographics and its relationship with women’s empowerment, political and economic stability and governance. PAI tracks funding for family planning and reproductive health services within developing countries and works to ensure that donors are held accountable for pledged funding commitments. PAI also engages in research that examines the impact of population changes on the environment and its implications for human security and sustainable economic development.

PAI's advocacy involves mobilizing political and financial support for family planning programs and sexual and reproductive health and rights. PAI focuses on highlighting the links between population, family planning, and gender equality and critical global issues such as poverty reduction, human security, climate change, geopolitcal conflict, and environmental sustainability.

In the United States, PAI works with domestic policymakers to strengthen U.S. reproductive health policies and funding for programs that mitigate poverty and rapid population growth. At the international level, PAI supports alliances by building their advocacy capacity and coordinating donor funding.

PAI monitors the United Nations, the World Bank, and other multilateral organizations to assess progress achieved on the development and implementation of international population and reproductive health policies.

Leadership

The president of PAI is Suzanne Ehlers, who has worked with PAI for six years and served as interim president during the last eight months. Ehlers served as a U.S. delegate to the U.N. Commission on Population and Development in April 2010. Previously, Ehlers was a grants officer at the Wallace Global Fund and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Central African Republic.

Past presidents of PAI include Amy Coen from 1997 to 2010, Hugo Hoogenboom from 1995 to 1997, and J. Joseph Speidel from 1987 to 1995. Under Speidel, PAI nearly doubled its staff and budget, significantly increased media exposure in the US and abroad, and began to train and sustain overseas advocacy groups. He also led PAI’s team during the 1994 ICPD in Cairo. During Coen's tenure, PAI worked to move U.S. policy to fortify the reproductive health advocacy movement in other countries and the links between population/reproductive health and critical global issues such as climate change.

Financial profile

For the fiscal year ending in 2008, PAI reported receiving approximately US $10.5 million in donations and grants. According to a 2008 Annual Report, PAI reported that it accepts no funding from governments and is financed through donations from foundations and individuals.

PAI published the following program and support services spending details for the 2008 fiscal year.

Program and support services	Expenses (USD)
Programs	$9,305,875
Resource development	$683,606
General and administrative	$508,219

Issues and campaigns

• Access of and to reproductive health supplies
• Development and security
• Family planning
• HIV and AIDS
• Population
• Population and climate change
• Sexual and reproductive health policy funding by the United States
• Sexual and reproductive health policy funding internationally
• Sexual violence

Initiatives

Reproductive Health Supplies Initiative

To meet the growing need for reproductive health supplies, PAI joined the Interim Working Group (IWG) on Reproductive Health Commodity Security in 2001 with partners John Snow, Inc. (JSI), the Program for Appropriate Technology and Health (PATH), and the Wallace Global Fund. The coalition met in Istanbul, Turkey in 2001 and devised a "Call to Action" plan with the goals of raising awareness, increasing support, and proposing solutions to the crisis in reproductive health supplies in two phases: Supply Initiative and Project Resources Mobilization Awareness (RMA).

• The Supply Initiative phase has resulted in an increase in media coverage of the RH supplies issue, increased availability of advocacy resources and materials, improved participation and investment by key stakeholders and partners, and increased numbers of donor governments contributing to RH supplies and increased volume of funding.
• Project RMA focuses on specific countries and regional bodies to create tangible financial and political commitment to sustained availability of reproductive health supplies in developing countries. Project RMA is currently in action and its partners include PAI, the International Planned Parenthood Foundation, and the German Foundation for World Population.

Climate Change Initiative

PAI’s Climate Change Initiative examines and assesses the relationships among population, gender, and climate change. The goals of the initiative are to strengthen the understanding of the influence of population on greenhouse gas emissions; demonstrate how demographic variables relate to climate change vulnerability; and expand the concept of climate change resilience by highlighting gender, fertility, and reproductive health dimensions. PAI partners with multiple climate-focused organizations, including the Joint Global Change Research Institute and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Youth Initiative

PAI's Youth Initiative works to highlight the sexual and reproductive health and rights needs of young people in the U.S. and abroad through the youth-led Young People's Initiative (YPI). The YPI aims to reach diverse audiences to promote improved sexual reproductive health and rights outcomes for young people. Goals and activities of the YPWG include funding to youth-led initiatives in developing countries and U.S university tours and documentary presentations.

Publications

PAI publishes annual reports that provide an overview of the programs, research, accomplishments, finances, and future goals that the organization has undertaken of the previous fiscal year. PAI also has financed and sponsored several documentaries centering on key population issues such as gender relations, HIV/AIDS, family planning, and reproductive health.

Documentaries

• Empty Handed: Responding the Demand for Contraceptives examines women's lack of access to reproductive health supplies in sub-Saharan Africa and the impact it has on their lives. It documents the challenges at each level of the reproductive health services supply chain and identifies areas in need of improvement. Empty Handed was set to be released at the Women Deliver Conference in Washington, DC on June 8, 2010.

• Silent Partner: HIV in Marriage examines the risk of the transmission of HIV in marriage and the health and cultural challenges facing married women. The 12-minute documentary, filmed in Kenya, is intended to inform and provoke discussion of harmful gender and societal norms that put women and couples at risk for HIV. It is also intended for advocacy to mobilize political and financial support for sexual and reproductive health and rights to achieve broader social, economic and gender equity for everyone. The Silent Partner premiered in Nairobi, Kenya on November 19, 2008.

• Abstaining from Reality: Filmed in Kenya and Uganda, the documentary provides a snapshot of the Bush administration’s abstinence-only approach to HIV prevention as part of its global HIV/AIDS assistance. Abstaining from Reality examines how these ideologically driven programs can endanger the lives of the people they're supposed to be protecting. The film urges a balanced, comprehensive approach to preventing HIV infections by providing full and accurate information and a range of services that empower individuals to make informed decisions. Abstaining from Reality was accepted into the 2007 United Nations Association Film Festival.

• Finding Balance — Forests and Family Planning in Madagascar: Poverty and rapid population growth have driven the destruction of almost 90 percent of Madagascar’s rainforest, home to thousands of plant and animal species found nowhere else on earth. This award-winning documentary journeys to the edge of a rapidly disappearing world, where population growth continues to fuel the cycle of poverty and deforestation. Rare interviews with local women reveal their desire to have fewer children and underscore the critical need for family planning services in remote areas. This short documentary brings the links between population growth and environmental destruction into sharp focus — and explores what one innovative local organization is doing about it.

External links

• Official Website
• Official Blog
• Empty Handed Documentary
• Silent Partner Film
• Suzanne Ehlers' Blogs on Grist