All For Good / Video Volunteers

Why International Family Planning?
Most Americans take family planning for granted.  We know what a difference it makes in our lives to be able to decide when and how many children to have.  But for hundreds of millions of people in developing countries, family planning is both a luxury and a dream.  So let’s dream with them – and work together so that this basic right is a reality for everyone!  If everyone who family planning was able to use it, we could:

• Save women’s lives: each year, more than 500,000 women worldwide die during pregnancy or childbirth.  Thirteen percent of these deaths result from unsafe abortions.  With greater access to contraception, unwanted pregnancies and maternal deaths can be greatly reduced.
• Reduce poverty: smaller families mean that parents can invest more in each child: nutrition and health care can improve, more children can go to school and stay in school – especially girls.  Families can begin to break out of the cycle of poverty. 
• Reduce environmental strain: population growth can put a strain on natural resources, leading to  water shortages, deforestation, and animal extinction. 
• Reduce civil and political conflict: poor countries with high population growth experience the most strife. When individuals, and women in particular, can plan their families and have more opportunities to earn a living, vulnerability to civil conflict decreases.
• Improve the health and prospects of young people: the largest generation of youth ever is coming of age, and they will need reproductive health counseling and services, including family planning, to help avoid problems of earlier generations.
• Improve education and literacy: with smaller families, parents can afford to send their children to school, improving their prospects for the future.
• Reduce abortion: when women and couples have access to contraception, they can prevent unwanted pregnancies, thus reducing the number of abortions.

Learn more about how EngenderHealth expands access to family planning methods around the world.

How can I help?
If you have seen our YouTube channel, you know that we have put together some videos over the last few years. But there is a lot more to say.  In particular, we need your help explaining why Americans should care about international family planning.  We think it’s important, but if you have any video skills at all, we want to know what YOU think.

Just make videos of any kind, upload them to YouTube as “public”, then e-mail your video links to video@engenderhealth.org with the text “YouTube Video Volunteers” in the subject line.  As long as it is on-topic and meets YouTube’s guidelines, the first 100 submitters will get a free EngenderHealth t-shirt. If we like the video, we'll add it to our favorites and will highlight the link on our web site. 

Thank you!