Recent Fertility Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa Workshop Summary (2016) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
5 Policy Options and Opportunities
5 Policy Options and Opportunities
Pages 49-66
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 49... ...
May identified three primary causes of continuing population growth across the region: (1) a dramatic decline in mortality, especially among infants and children; (2)
|
From page 50... ...
Donors have also tried to influence policy, despite waxing and waning interest by many regional governments, and have supported active advocacy models, which have been beneficial in some countries. At the same time, he said, some governments have been suspicious of western organizations that promote family planning and have pushed back against some of these ideas.
|
From page 51... ...
First, he agreed with the "integrated view," the notion that multiple developments are needed simultaneously: continued declines in child mortality, improvements in literacy among girls and women, increases in the number of adults who desire small family sizes, and increasing availability of effective family planning services. Those developments will require energetic, comprehensive, and sustained efforts, he noted.
|
From page 52... ...
Haile suggested that this experience demonstrated the importance of focusing on what would be of most interest not to the international reproductive health community, but to national governments and local leaders. He agreed with May that many leaders are under pressure to pursue economic development and infrastructure improvements and that it is important for foundations to emphasize the ways in which the same factors that promote reductions in fertility -- as well as the resulting slowing in population growth -- also promote economic benefits such as industrialization and agricultural development.
|
From page 53... ...
tend to fall in the upper left quadrant (higher fertility rates and lower life expectancy) , while higher income nations tend to fall in the lower right quadrant (lower fertility rates and higher life expectancy)
|
From page 54... ...
The World Bank also has a growing analytic program whose mission is to help bridge the gap between research and policy documents and Millions USD 2000 Total HNP lending in SSA 1800 Total RH lending in SSA 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 550 400 200 0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 FIGURE 5-2 World Bank lending for programs related to health, nutrition, and population (HNP) , and reproductive health (RH)
|
From page 55... ...
; Demographic Change, HIV/AIDS and Jobs in Southern Africa (5 countries) ; The Demographic Transition in Mozambique; Adolescent SRH, Life Skills, Education and Job Skills in Zambia and Malawi; and Monitoring for Maternal and Reproductive Health Results: What Human Rights Can Offer.
|
From page 56... ...
However, although reducing population growth is important, USAID focuses not on reducing fertility rates but on meeting unmet demand for contraception and promoting informed choice, she said. The agency's view is that the contraceptive prevalence rate is a key determinant of fertility and that effective family planning prevents unintended pregnancies, reduces abortion rates, and helps women achieve the spacing of births that they desire.
|
From page 57... ...
USAID also identified a single indicator that would provide a useful snapshot of progress: the rate at which the demand for modern contraceptives is satisfied. That indicator measures the proportion of women who want to avoid pregnancy who are using modern contraception to do that.
|
From page 58... ...
This analysis is based on the 24 USAID's Office of Population and Reproductive Health priority countries and the Ouagadougou Partnership countries and data from January 2015. SOURCE: Starbird (2015)
|
From page 59... ...
NOTE: Rates Figure 5-4, editable from the last two survey data points from of change are calculated the Demographic and Health Surveys, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, and Reproductive Health Surveys. This analysis is based on the 24 USAID's Office of Population and Reproductive Health priority countries and the Ouagadougou Partnership countries and data from January 2015.
|
From page 60... ...
• Take a more careful look at the role of recent economic and other devel opments. More systematic understanding of changes in spending levels and funding and governing structures, and other nonde mographic factors, could help to illuminate some of the reasons why sub-Saharan African countries have had different experi ences and trajectories than developing countries in other regions.
|
From page 61... ...
Fertility rates have a direct relationship to population projections, he noted: A change of even 0.5 or 1.0 children per woman will have a very large effect on long-term population projections. The slow pace limits possibilities for a demographic dividend in the region.
|
From page 62... ...
Phillips conducted a "bibliometric review" of approximately 20,000 articles about family planning and reproductive health published between 1994 and 2014 to assess the state of the research base. He used the Scopus database of peer-reviewed research literature6 to search for a set of 10 keywords associated with fertility rates.
|
From page 63... ...
Figure 5-5, editable Phillips drew a few conclusions from additional analyses, noting, for example, that the research tended not to explore links between programmatic and policy indicators and topics such as adolescence, and that HIV research was separate from and peripheral to programmatic research related to family planning. HIV has grown from a peripheral topic to one that is closely linked with reproductive health, though not to family planning.
|
From page 64... ...
He agreed that a lot can be learned from other regions, but the goal of fertility decline in and of itself may be less compelling to leaders in African countries at this stage, in his view. The population growth projected for much of sub-Saharan Africa will be difficult to slow, and it will have dramatic implications for food security and many other social and economic problems, as many of the presentations detailed, Zulu noted.
|
From page 65... ...
He expressed the concern that despite the many gains that have been made in reducing fertility and slowing population growth, "we could still lose out if we don't continue with sustained advocacy, using opportunities like linking African development with the democratic dividend concept, as the Asian tigers did."
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.