Many reproductive issues become highly politicized.
The World Health Organization defines reproductive health as the ability of people "to have a responsible, satisfying and safe sex life," "[enjoy] the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so," and access needed educational, social welfare and health care services. Thus reproductive health projects and technologies address wide-ranging but profoundly interconnected issues.
Gender-Based Violence
Among other ill effects on reproductive health, gender-based violence has actually imbalanced the ratio of women to men in the billion-plus population of India. The all-volunteer, Internet-based 50 Million Missing Campaign challenges violence against Indian women and girls, such as female feticide, female infanticide and dowry-related murders. To move a global audience to action, the Campaign uses an online petition, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, discussion forums and a Flickr-hosted photo gallery.
Sex Education
Men and women in the developing world are far more likely to have mobile phones than Internet connections or other means of obtaining vital reproductive health information. Thus the nongovernmental organization or NGO Family Health International launched its Mobile for Reproductive Health or m4RH. The free m4RH text messaging system educates users about different family planning methods.
Voluntary Family Planning
Improvement of supply chain logistics does not sound very sexy, but it is urgently necessary for the more than 215 million women worldwide, mostly in poor countries, who lack the access they want to family planning. The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition, a global network of governmental, civil society and business groups, created the Hand to Hand Campaign to alleviate this problem.
Post -Abortion Care
The United States Agency for International Development or USAID is legally barred from "supporting abortion as a method of family planning," reflecting the controversial status of abortion in the global reproductive health community. USAID does publish the Post Abortion Care Global Resources website. This educates health workers, especially in developing countries, about evidence-based ways to address postabortion women's medical and psychological needs.
Maternal and Child Mortality
A coalition with governmental and civil society members in 152 countries, the White Ribbon Alliance seeks to counter the global epidemic of maternal deaths --- more than 1,000 per day --- related to pregnancy and childbirth, a significant cause also of child mortality. It holds governments and other stakeholders accountable to their commitments to prevent these deaths.
Environmental Pollution
Toxic chemicals, many of them from pesticides, household cleaners, and even personal care and beauty products, are now implicated in reproductive health problems like female and male infertility, miscarriage and prenatal health impairments. The US-based nonprofit Women's Voices for the Earth promotes personal action against these chemicals, for example through by reducing your exposure and responding to alerts on legislation and corporate practices.
HIV/AIDS Pandemic
South Africa, one of the most heavily HIV-infected countries, is home to the Treatment Action Campaign or TAC, an NGO world renowned for its advocacy of universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services. It describes its "core programmes" as "prevention and treatment literacy...community health advocacy...[and] policy, communications and research."
Tags: reproductive health, civil society, family planning, governmental civil, governmental civil society