LynnCSchreiber - live blog from Family Planning Summit on 11th July

[MmeLindor.]

I have recently returned from Kenya, where I was blogging about reproductive rights and the issues millions of women have in accessing family planning.

The Gates Foundation has an ambitious of ensuring that an additional 120m women around the world have access to contraceptives.

Currently the lack of contraception in the developing world means that women are having more babies than they would like, and with small age gaps.

The consequences are many. High maternal mortality, high infant mortality, an appallingly high number or unsafe abortions, particularly in countries where abortion is illegal or difficult to access. Girls don't finish school because they get pregnant so are unable to help lift their families out of poverty.

The UK and the Gates Foundation are hosting a summit this month to raise awareness and funds to fight this issue.

I will, along with many other bloggers who were on the trip, be blogging live from London.

If you have any questions, post them here and I'll try to get answers for you.

You can see what I've been doing in Kenya on the blog: www.saltandcaramel.com

Now at the side event on Women and Girls' empowerment by Save the Children and Women and Children First

and will go on to a IPPF / Save the Children event about young people and access to family planning

Great to hear spokespeople from around the world being accountable on this issue and saying what has been done and what they pledge to do in the future - to increase access to family planning for women and thereby improve the lives especially of women and children.

Thanks for reporting on this Lynn and thanks to everyone reading who cares about this issue and is taking action to change lives

Will take notes here, and try to keep names straight.

Mariella Frostrup is running the session to begin with but has to leave early as it is her DD's schools certificate day (I think she said). We are running late cause of the Presidents long speeches.

She talks about her personal

1 woman dies every 90 seconds in pregnancy or childbirht
2/3 of the worlds illiterate are female

we have failed dismally,, talking about having it all but these are women who have nothing at all .. for too long we sat on our hands

(will try to get a transcript of this speech, it is excellent - I am not quick enough typist)

telling a story of a woman raped and abused in Sudan. 'she was hardly in a position to argue for birth control

Now Mary Robinson to talk

talking about 'leadership' / global leaders council

reproductive health and family planning needed to be on the agenda

UN foundation have created a website / why we care / where you can share your story

A number of us were at Rio conference, a backsliding on the Cairo conference. Extremely sad that reproductive rights were not to be recognised.

Cairo and Beijing texts are fundamental and must be upheld.

Was with Desmond Tutu and ?? Finland someone ? in Sudan

and met a women's group - first they allowed the representative from elderly then the youth / list of prioritiies, no1 was to limit child marriage.

A lawyer led the conversation. They were not entirely comfortable discussing this. They were encouraged when Tutu jumped up and agreed with them.

70% of children never been to school in this part of South Sudan
Domestic violence

I am asking myself, how quickly with support get to the women? The pledging is very important, but how does this get to the women's group.

I wish I could stay longer, but planes don't wait for me anymore!

First Lady of Gambia speaking next.

This is more like it! Mary Robinson was great.

SHe was gynae and had the girls and women coming into the hospitals after botched abortions.

we the poeple have been sitting on the fence and counting numbers. Family planning saves lives.

Oh, it was Zambia not Gambia. Was still writing up the Mary Robinson speech.

Economic increase has not matched the population growth.

Maternal mortality is v high compared to developed nations. When you look at other contributing factors, we start to see a picture.

that beleife that a woman has no voice. the voice that a man can make a decision on behalf of a woman.

men refuse to use condoms, because they think if a woman uses condoms that they have been promiscuous.

they decide how many children a woman has.

FP uptake is rising, partnering with civil society, private for profit and non profit

access a big issue, commodities int he country not getting to the people.

continuing with Zambia

talkiing about stock outs.

We are trying to engage the traditional leaders, and with the faith based organisations. QUite a lot of resistance from churches, particularly catholic church. she mentions the question this earlier about the Holy See and talks about those who oppose contraception but yet actually use it.

Human resources is a challenge. Not enough nurses, doc, trained medical personal. Training people to give depo, as well as condoms in rural areas.

Integrating FP in reproductive health services and HIV testing is important.

working hard to guarantee the supply chain. Gov doubled up their budget of FP commodities. Goal is to increase by 58%.

We need people to invest in Zambia. This is the time to act. Our teenagers are dying.

sorry, had major pc issues. I took notes and will transcribe later.

Now at a session about young people and access to fp.

Baroness someoneorother (will get the name in a moment) talking about UK government involvement

Dfid supports safe space prject in zambia, to empower girls, educate them

Girl Hub with Nike Foundation in Ethiopia supporting scale up of successful pilot programme to prevent child marriage. Pilot programme delayed marriage for every girl who took part.

We must include men in our discussions. Part of the solution and not just part of the problem.

Now the 17yo who David Cameron mentioned in his speech. Footballer and peer educator.

Incredibly poised young woman, speaking in front of so many people. She is happy that she was invited to the summit and talked about the attitude to community about sex and fp

there is no age appropriate information for young people.

whenever we want to talk about fp and sex, the (the community) think it is a sin to talk about these issues.

age appropriate info - they call everyone together and the young people cannot say anything because their parents are there too. She lives in border of town, no health centre, she and friends have to travel to other area to access FP.

She recommends>

women should intervene in big campaign with the media to open discussion

new centres should be build in living areas

age appropriate information, interspersed with entertainment so that the young people want to come to the event. edutainment.

she and her friends went to ywca and to the school to share their information, if the government would support these organisations they could reach more young people.

Tanzania delegate starting with stats.

parents and community leaders not adequately equipped with knowledge about sex ed and FP

Most youths do not have access to FP and reproductive rights services

inadequate capacity of health workers. Limited capacity to provide friendly information

what should be done?

Increase adolecesnts access and integration. Target is to provide friendly services (I like this plan, sounds well friendly)

He is saying what we have heard a lot today. Increase supply, increase integration, increase knowledge in the community.

Very few are talking about actually stopping young girls having sex, or about the issue of rape or abuse. It is troubling me a bit today.

Ian Askew, from Population Control finally mentions violence.

Stats are frightening,

40 to 60 % of post rape services are under age of 15yo

survey shows 30% upward - first sexual encounter non-consensual

every speaker has talked of reducing early marriage. sometimes seen as a protective mechanism, but it is actually a danger for girls.

education - sexual health - NGD2 / school enrollment is rising, so we shoudl take advantage of this and teach girls and boys in schools

engaging parents and community leaders as well as the schools is critical for school based intervention to be successful

Improving youth services / consider social marketing eg condoms, pills, emergency contraceptives /

legistlation around age of marriage in many countries, or against domestic violence and female genital cutting, but implementation is lacking.

Ian spoke very clearly and I was very glad to have the issues of violence brought up.

A young Nigerian woman talking about how when she had her first period, a girl in her school gave her san pro, her mother noticed that evening and told her not to sit next to a boy or she would get pregnant.

She is been called a sinner and thrown out of her church for volunteering to be a family planning health worker.

Reminds us all that these young people face so many hurdles to bring information to their peers.

The Ethiopian woman who spoke earlier abut being a peer counsellor talked about her parents not accpeting her decision. She decided to carry on, and is empowered by this.

Then Kokou, who I met earlier (he is the young man on the photo with Melinda Gates and David Cameron). He encouraged the young women to carry on with the peer counselling, telling the story of his family.

His family were against his work as a peer counsellor until his brother died of aid, then his father said to him, 'You boy. Why do you teach about aids, and not start teaching in this house'.

Ok, wrapping up now.

I will go back to the hotel and check out the notes that I made earlier. I hope that the recording worked, because the minister of Zambia (I think it was) was great.

Lynn/lindor, thanks for tireless blogging! I missed the afternoon so will catch up by reading up your notes. Some bedtime reading!!

Yes, thanks Lynn - awesome !

Thanks Lynn/ Mme Lindor (is that a pun?)

This is fab, thank you!

If you don't want to read through everything, I have condensed it a bit and added my thoughts

More than statistics and soundbites

Great stuff. I heard Melinda Gates on Woman's Hour she came across really well not at all defensive about her Catholicusm and pointing out that over 80% of US Catholics think FP is not wrong.

80% did seem high though!

Ah, interesting - I didn't know she was a Catholic. Great to see an influential Catholic family really get behind contraception and family planning. Good for them ! I'm very impressed

Yes, she is a practising Catholic. I think it is the reason that this campaign has done so well. She is believable.

I heard that a huge majority (I thought it was more than 80% actually) of Catholics in US use birth control, even those who profess not to believe in it.

One woman I talked to used to work in an abortion clinic and said that she would see the same women who had been protesting against abortion, come into the clinic for a termination. When it comes to protecting one's own health, it seems that some are more ready to compromise.

To me, it's awful that the Catholic church has held out against contraception for so long causing a lot of suffering and the continuation of poverty for many families, especially women and children.

I like the "no controversy in contraception" project and think it could be a great way forward. Surely the official Catholic position on contraception is becoming increasingly untenable where so many Catholic women are quite reasonably using it. We just need more of them to speak out for the sake of other women around the world ! I strongly believe that there is nothing wrong with contraception.

If people have differing views on abortion then I think that's understandable.
But let's unite on something that can make so much difference in women's lives (contraception and family planning), and should surely have "no controversy" anywhere for anyone.

Absolutely, Juggling. I do think that it was an important discussion and I realise that it will have to be widened to include the issue of abortion, but lets not try to run before we can walk.