Dear Avnish,
While the future is cloudy, I am pleased to be able to say that 2010 has been a good year. CHANGE ended the year with a flurry of action that has given us confidence that the voices of so many committed and knowledgeable advocates will not be drowned out in the coming years, no matter what the political winds.
I am profoundly touched by Ethiopian advocates Bilal Muche and Sister Shewaye Alewu Engeda, who graciously welcomed CHANGE’s
Ethiopia study tour delegation in July. In November, they also travelled to the United States to tell Congress, the Administration, and Minnesotan advocates that U.S foreign assistance for family planning, maternal health and HIV/AIDS programs is critical to the country’s development and women’s lives.
I am very grateful for the many other advocates at home and abroad. Throughout 2010, you have answered our many calls for advocacy by making phone calls, writing letters, sending emails, and meeting with your Congressional leadership. CHANGE cannot advocate alone. We need the ongoing support and solidarity of advocates like you.
Your continued support is appreciated as always. As you make your year-end giving decisions, we hope that you will
keep CHANGE in mind. We will continue to be vigilant in our work.
In peace and solidarity,
Serra Sippel
President, Center for Health and Gender Equity
Bringing home the recommendations from our
Ethiopia Study Tour to inform U.S. policy on sexual and reproductive health and rights has been some of the most compelling work that CHANGE has done this year. It was also timely, given implementation of the Global Health Initiative and the need for increased U.S. funding for international family planning, maternal health, and HIV/AIDS.
Bilal Muche of Amhara Development Association, Sister Shewaye Alewu Engeda of Marie Stopes International-Ethiopia, and study tour delegates State Sen. Arthenia Joyner (D-FL) and State Rep. Kay Khan (D-MA), all travelled to Washington for meetings with high-level decision makers. They spoke about
the
importance of U.S. funding for family planning and maternal health in Ethiopia, and about the reality of the
Global Gag Rule. Bilal explained how President Obama’s repeal last year of the rule has made a significant difference in his work. He can now provide women with information about all of the available health services, including safe, legal abortion in the cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother. Just being able to discuss safe abortion within the legal context of Ethiopia has changed the way he works, he said, and the lives of the women and girls he serves.
At each meeting and event in Washington, we were overwhelmed by the response to the delegation’s testimony, particularly given the political climate. For example, tour delegate Sen. Joyner made headway with U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch’s
(D-FL) chief of staff, urging Rep. Deutch to provide critical support for sexual and reproductive health as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Just recently, Rep. Deutsch signed on to a Congressional letter to the president requesting increased funding for family planning and reproductive health. State Department’s Reta Jo Lewis, special representative for global intergovernmental affairs, brought together other key officials, including the Ethiopia desk officer, who expressed how important it was for him to have this feedback on U.S. policy and assistance in Ethiopia.
Following Washington, Minnesota State Sen. Sandy Pappas, who also participated on the tour, hosted the delegation in Minneapolis-St. Paul, where we held a roundtable with Minnesota-based NGO leaders and a public event at the University of Minnesota that had the support of U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison's (D-MN) office. In a letter read at the University of Minnesota event, Rep.
Ellison said, "I want to congratulate the Center for Health and Gender Equity on their work to engage people from all over the U.S. on global health issues...We must do all we can to make sure all people have access to safe and expert healthcare." A group of constituents, including Sen. Pappas, met directly with U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) the morning after Sen. Pappas’ op-ed about the study tour appeared in the
Minnesota Star-Tribune.
With an incoming Republican majority in the House that is not supportive of women’s reproductive health and rights at home and abroad, this advocacy work now has taken on increased significance. We will continue to leverage the study tour findings and mobilize advocates to demonstrate the impact of foreign assistance, and the necessity of U.S. support for comprehensive and
integrated sexual and reproductive health services.
Discredited Abstinence-Be faithful (AB)-focused HIV-prevention initiatives are still receiving close to 20 percent of U.S. global HIV/AIDS funding, according to the recently-issued 2010 President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) operational plan. However, women’s risk of contracting HIV is heightened if they are married—a situation that AB-focused programs do not address.
This World AIDS Day, December 1, CHANGE facilitated meetings with executive branch officials, Congressional staff and authors of
The Secret: Love, Marriage, and HIV, a book that documents the social and economic factors in five countries that contribute to men’s marital infidelity—and therefore, married women's risk of infection. CHANGE worked with the researchers to translate the academic research into
policy recommendations.
The
findings raise serious questions about the effectiveness of investing in programs that equate fidelity with morality. In fact,
The Secret finds that AB programs may actually increase risk by heightening secrecy around culturally normal acts of infidelity, and stigmatizing the use of condoms.
CHANGE is using the research findings to inform advocacy for comprehensive prevention programs by presenting empirical evidence that documents the fundamental flaws of AB-focused programs.
International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA)The Senate is currently poised to vote on the
International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA). If passed, IVAWA would comprehensively incorporate solutions to domestic violence into all U.S. foreign assistance programs—it would be the first time the U.S. has addressed violence against women on a global level. So far, it has withstood any attempts to water it down with legislation that would restrict access to safe abortion. The bill now goes to the House, where we are sure to see abortion being used again as a political wedge,
as it was used to defeat the Prevention of Child Marriage Act last week.
Lame Duck Session Updates
The FY11 budget still has not been decided. The House Republicans have passed a stopgap measure to keep the budget at FY10 levels until representatives can come to a consensus. This is bad news for women and girls around the world because when the funding question comes up again early next year, the Republican-controlled House will no doubt try to roll back all global health spending to 2008 levels, a huge step backwards for crucial funding necessary to meet the global need for family planning, maternal health and HIV prevention.
Meanwhile, CHANGE is continuing to work with the advocacy community to increase international family planning and reproductive health funding to $1 billion in the next budget cycle. CHANGE staff helped garner signatures from members of the House on a letter advocating for the inclusion of $1 billion for international family planning and reproductive health programs. More than 85 House members signed on to a letter supported by CHANGE to the director of the budget office at the White House, asking that the president’s FY12 budget request reflect the increase. This is a significant accomplishment in light of the current fiscally-conservative political environment. The letter from Congress sends a strong signal to the White House that women’s global health issues are important to the Congressional offices and their constituents.
Please consider making a
contribution today. Any way you choose to contribute, your support strengthens our efforts to ensure U.S. foreign policies and programs promote the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls worldwide. For federal employees, CHANGE is part of the Combined Federal Campaign, #62113.
