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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>  <rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" > <channel> <title>Behind the Numbers: The PRB blog on population, health, and the environment</title> <link>http://prbblog.org</link> <description>The PRB blog on population, health, and the environment</description> <pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:31:36 +0000</pubDate> <generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3</generator> <language>en</language> <item> <title>Uganda in the Rearview Mirror</title> <link>http://prbblog.org/?p=86</link> <comments>http://prbblog.org/?p=86#comments</comments> <pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:31:36 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Jay Gribble</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Reproductive Health]]></category> <category><![CDATA[family planning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[uganda]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://prbblog.org/?p=86</guid> <description><![CDATA[by Jay Gribble, vice president, International Programs Over the past few days, I’ve had the opportunity to attend the International Family Planning Conference, held at the Speke Conference Center in Uganda. This meeting has given me the chance to learn a lot about Uganda and get updated on what has been happening in the field. While the [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[by Jay Gribble, vice president, International Programs Over the past few days, I’ve had the opportunity to attend the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.fpconference2009.org/">International Family Planning Conference</a>, held at the Speke Conference Center in Uganda. This meeting has given me the chance to learn a lot about Uganda and get updated on what has been happening in the field. While the selection of Uganda as the venue for this meeting of approximately 1,200 participants has focused the eyes of the world on the country’s need to better address the reproductive health of its women, Uganda is not alone in needing to increase its commitment—both political and financial. A few statistics about Uganda have really stuck in my head: Ugandan women have on average about 6 to 7 births per women, which is not much less that it was 25 years ago. Only about 18 percent of women of reproductive age use a modern family planning method and more than 40 percent of women don’t want to have any more children in the next two years – or at all – but are not using a family planning method. Maternal death and disability robs the country of its women as well as hundreds of millions of dollars of lost productivity. As seen in many countries, provider attitudes can undermine women’s interest and willingness to use family planning, and poor women are again at an inherent disadvantage because of they have limited access to services, poorer understanding of family planning methods, and hold on to traditional beliefs and values that undermine gender equity. Though there is much work to be done to improve access to and use of family planning, this opportunity to bring together representatives of the global family planning movement has had some real benefits. Over the couple of decades I’ve been working in this field, I don’t remember attending a meeting that has reenergized people with new evidence, new messages, and new acquaintances. Could the funds used to support the conference have been channeled into the field to support efforts? No doubt it could have been. Yet just as people who attend a global AIDS conference look forward to learning the new science and being recharged to go back to work, this meeting has given those of us who work in family planning a new, broader perspective on what’s going on and what needs to be done. Through learning new information, sharing what PRB has to offer to the field, and meeting new people from around the world, I am recharged—and I think many others are, too. Will things change tomorrow? Probably not. But by bringing ministers of finance, health, and planning together; by exposing Ugandan parliamentarians to some of the lost opportunities to national health and development because of inadequate political and financial commitments; by sharing evidence-based research results to better figure out what else needs to be done—I am optimistic about getting things on track and moving forward. As I leave Uganda and look back on what has happened over the past few days, I think the global family planning movement has been galvanized in a way that hasn’t happened before. Driving forward, the way will certainly have its bumps, but I am optimistic that we are on the right road. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://prbblog.org/?feed=rss2&p=86</wfw:commentRss> </item> <item> <title>Pearls — Beauty Brought About by Irritation</title> <link>http://prbblog.org/?p=85</link> <comments>http://prbblog.org/?p=85#comments</comments> <pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:50:17 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Jay Gribble</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Reproductive Health]]></category> <category><![CDATA[family planning]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://prbblog.org/?p=85</guid> <description><![CDATA[by Jay Gribble, vice president, International Programs As the International Family Planning Conference, held in Uganda, comes to a close, Dr. Ward Cates, president of Family Health International, summarized the content, tenor, and tone of the conference in 10 “pearls.” I found his reference to pearls to be an appropriate comparison; while Uganda is referred to [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[by Jay Gribble, vice president, International Programs As the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.fpconference2009.org/">International Family Planning Conference</a>, held in Uganda, comes to a close, Dr. Ward Cates, president of Family Health International, summarized the content, tenor, and tone of the conference in 10 “pearls.” I found his reference to pearls to be an appropriate comparison; while Uganda is referred to as the “Pearl of Africa,”pearls are formed by a grain on sand creating an irritation within an oyster. <ol> <li>Policies related to family planning need to be better implemented so that they reach those women who either don’t want any more children or want to postpone having children for a few years, but are not using family planning. Linked to meeting this need is the importance of family planning in achieving the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">Millennium Development Goals</a>.</li> <li>Long acting and permanent methods are increasingly playing a more important role in programs because short-acting methods pose challenges in correct use and are subject so supply shortages.</li> <li>New contraceptive technologies are needed—including low-cost methods and products that provide dual protection from HIV/AIDS and unplanned pregnancy.</li> <li>Service delivery needs to gain better community buy-in and involvement in distribution, including community-based participation and increased awareness through media.</li> <li>Commodities are in stock more often because of better collaboration between partners—and this results in better service delivery; creative multi-tier pricing strategies are also contributing to a wider range of service delivery points to meet the need of women and couples.</li> <li>The integration of family planning and HIV services appears to be reaching a tipping point in some countries as local, national, and international decisionmakers recognize its value. </li> <li>The integration of family planning into other types of services—postpartum care, immunizations clinics, and primary health care—provide important strategies for expanding access to family planning services.</li> <li>The financing and costs associated with family planning programs remains a challenge. However, the total cost of addressing family planning and reproductive health on a global basis is less that what is spent over 10 days on military actions worldwide. </li> <li>Youth and men need to be addressed more explicitly. Vasectomy is becoming more popular, but there are still many taboos to overcome for it to be accepted more broadly. Similarly, language associate with family planning needs to be reconsidered so that it better appeals to men’s ways of looking at issues.</li> <li>We know what we need to do—we need to do more of it. Better collaboration, better harmonization, and less duplication of efforts are all part of the way forward.</li> </ol> Ward’s pearls resonate with what has been discussed at the conference. His comments came at the beginning of last day of the conference, which focuses on using research findings to improve programs. For many of these pearls to come to fruition, advocates, program manages, policy makers, media, and the public will need to be vocal, use evidence to make their case, and hold governments accountable. Just like the grain of sand in the oyster, we need to better raise awareness about the health and development benefits of family planning to make sure these pearls fully develop. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://prbblog.org/?feed=rss2&p=85</wfw:commentRss> </item> <item> <title>Family Planning: Is It Back?</title> <link>http://prbblog.org/?p=84</link> <comments>http://prbblog.org/?p=84#comments</comments> <pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:23:42 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Jay Gribble</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Reproductive Health]]></category> <category><![CDATA[family planning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[health]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://prbblog.org/?p=84</guid> <description><![CDATA[by Jay Gribble, vice president, International Programs On the first day of the International Family Planning Conference, held at the Speke Conference Center outside of Kampala, Uganda, ministers of health, finance, and planning assembled to discuss financing the health-related Millennium Development Goals. The day-long session included representatives from more than a dozen countries and raised a [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[by Jay Gribble, vice president, International Programs On the first day of the International Family Planning Conference, held at the Speke Conference Center outside of Kampala, Uganda, ministers of health, finance, and planning assembled to discuss financing the health-related Millennium Development Goals. The day-long session included representatives from more than a dozen countries and raised a number of interesting and relevant questions. The first question, perhaps asked rhetorically, was “Is family planning back?” As competing priorities for scarce resources have led to less attention being paid to family planning, this question is relevant also because of the stagnation in contraceptive use in many countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa. HIV/AIDS has taken both the spotlight and the majority of funds. Even though the region continues to struggle with the epidemic, ministers discussed the need to focus on family planning, especially as a way of reducing maternal mortality. The speaker who posed this question, Dr. Khama Rogo of the World Bank, acknowledged the challenges to getting family planning back as a priority: country leadership, donor coordination, overcoming the inadequacies of government budgets to address family planning, the large out-of-pocket expenditures that individuals pay for services and commodities, and innovations in policies, strategies, and financing—which require finding new ways to get family planning into national development priorities. Each of these challenges can be addressed through the efforts of skilled advocates and committed policymakers. However, as Dr. Rogo pointed out, if family planning is an “externally funded mandate, then it is not back at all.” While donors and outside organizations have a role to play in addressing family planning needs, unless the issue is owned by local stakeholders and governments, family planning will not get the traction that it needs to move forward. He went on to suggest recommendations to help ensure that family planning is back—including having national governments follow through with their commitment to allocate 15 percent of national budgets to the health sector; the development of country-led strategies that respond to local issues and that do not rely on donors; increasing community participation in family planning service delivery—especially through community-based distribution; a policy environment that promotes public-private partnerships so that the challenge for responding to family planning needs is spread throughout other sectors; and improving stewardship—national and local leadership—in addressing the family planning needs of women and couples. Dr. Rogo made a comparison that was perhaps the most memorable line from the ministers’ seminar: family planning is to maternal health what vaccination programs are to child health. This insight places family planning squarely where it belongs: as a health intervention, family planning is central to reducing maternal mortality and disability. Given the importance of this way of looking at family planning within sub-Saharan Africa, Rogo’s insight should be used by advocates to refocus attention on family planning and make sure that it is back to stay. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://prbblog.org/?feed=rss2&p=84</wfw:commentRss> </item> <item> <title>Family Planning, Family Health, Family Wealth</title> <link>http://prbblog.org/?p=83</link> <comments>http://prbblog.org/?p=83#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:48:02 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Jay Gribble</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Income/Poverty]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reproductive Health]]></category> <category><![CDATA[family planning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[poverty]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://prbblog.org/?p=83</guid> <description><![CDATA[by Jay Gribble, vice president, International Programs More than 1,000 people have gathered on the shore of Lake Victoria at the Speke Conference Center outside of Kampala, Uganda, to discuss family planning—what we have learned from research and how to expand the implementation of best practices. The opening plenary included a range of speakers, including the First [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[by Jay Gribble, vice president, International Programs More than 1,000 people have gathered on the shore of Lake Victoria at the Speke Conference Center outside of Kampala, Uganda, to discuss family planning—what we have learned from research and how to expand the implementation of best practices. The opening plenary included a range of speakers, including the First Lady of Uganda. Many speakers have focused on family planning as a strategy to reduce maternal mortality. For years, family planning has been couched in terms of its health benefits to women and children. The idea of “too young, too old, too close, and too many” is familiar to family planning advocates because through helping avoid unplanned pregnancies, family planning is able to contribute to lower maternal and child mortality. These are critical to addressing the Millennium Development Goals, which aim to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life among the poor. Yet there are other benefits of family planning that should not be overlooked. Not only is family planning a health strategy, but it is also a poverty reduction strategy. Evidence demonstrates that when women use family planning and have smaller families, their families are better off. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.prb.org/Publications/PolicyBriefs/bangladeshfamilyplanning.aspx">Research from Bangladesh </a>shows that through the long-term commitment to family planning and maternal-child health, families are healthier; they have greater assets; they live in more valuable houses; their children are better educated and have lower mortality rates. These benefits reinforce the importance of family planning as both a health strategy as well as one to reduce poverty and improve economic development. We should also remember that family planning is intrinsically linked to women’s empowerment. When women can decide the timing, spacing, and number of children that they want to have, they and their children are healthier, but they are also more empowered. Recognizing that there are important gender aspects of health and development, family planning helps women better care for themselves, for their children, their families. It allows them to work and earn an income, to continue their education, and to have a say about their own lives and futures. The conference theme makes an important statement: family planning—family health—family wealth. Let’s not limit the discussion of family planning to only one area of benefit. Good health is important, but family planning also reduces poverty and promotes gender equity. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://prbblog.org/?feed=rss2&p=83</wfw:commentRss> </item> <item> <title>Voices From the XXVI International Population Conference</title> <link>http://prbblog.org/?p=82</link> <comments>http://prbblog.org/?p=82#comments</comments> <pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:10:35 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Mary Kent</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[PRB News]]></category> <category><![CDATA[video]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://prbblog.org/?p=82</guid> <description><![CDATA[by Mary Kent, senior demographic editor Attending a large professional conference serves several purposes for demographers: It is a place to trade ideas with peers working on similar problems and with similar data; it offers a window into interesting projects outside the often narrow focus of one’s own specialty; it encourages us to ponder big, complicated issues, like [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[by Mary Kent, senior demographic editor Attending a large professional conference serves several purposes for demographers: It is a place to trade ideas with peers working on similar problems and with similar data; it offers a window into interesting projects outside the often narrow focus of one’s own specialty; it encourages us to ponder big, complicated issues, like climate change; and it provides an opportunity to catch up with old friends and colleagues and to meet new ones. Despite long days in stuffy, windowless meeting rooms, attending a conference can be energizing, reminding us why we went into the field in the first place and giving us fresh ideas about how to approach our work. <img src="http://www.iussp.org/marrakech2009/header.jpg" border="0" width="500" height="100" /> The <a href="http://www.iussp.org/marrakech2009/index.php" target="_blank">IUSSP conference </a>occurs only every four years and is probably the largest international gathering of population scientists. We asked a diverse group of population scientists attending the 2009 IUSSP meetings in Marrakech what they will take away from the experience and what they see as important emerging issues in their field. <object width="480" height="295"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SljzIiKhrr8&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&hd=1"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SljzIiKhrr8&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object> This video features: Ragui Assaad is a professor at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. He recently returned to the university from Cairo, where he served as the regional director for West Asia and North Africa for the Population Council. Ragui has written numerous publications, including a <a href="http://www.prb.org/pdf07/YouthinMENA.pdf" target="_blank">PRB policy brief </a>on the MENA youth bulge. He hosted one of PRB’s <a href="http://discuss.prb.org/content/interview/detail/2295" target="_blank">Discuss Online sessions </a>on the topic in 2008. Joel E. Cohen is Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of Populations at Rockefeller University. He heads the Laboratory of Populations at both Rockefeller and Columbia universities. Joel’s research deals mainly with demography, ecology, population genetics, epidemiology, and social organization of human and nonhuman populations, and with mathematical concepts useful in these fields. He is the author of numerous works on these subjects, including the seminal work, How Many People Can the Earth Support? He currently serves on the board of Trustees for PRB. John F. May is a demographer at the World Bank who tracks population and health trends in sub-Saharan Africa. He recently published the study “Capturing Ethiopia’s Demographic Bonus.” Before joining the World Bank in 1997, John worked on population projects around the world for the UN Population Fund, UNICEF, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the IUSSP, and the Futures Group International. John was a visiting scholar at PRB in 1991-1992 and again in 2005-2006. Lori Hunter is a professor of sociology and environmental studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and editor-in-chief of the journal Population and Environment. She is part of an ongoing project investigating the links between the environment and HIV/AIDS for people living in specific rural areas of South Africa. Her research interests embrace many aspects of environment, health, and population dynamics, including the public perception of environmental issues and environmental inequality. Lori spent September 2006 to April 2007 at PRB as a Population-Health-Environment Bixby Fellow. During this time, she contributed several<a href="http://www.prb.org/Articles/2006/HIVAIDSandthenaturalenvironment.aspx" target="_blank"> articles </a>to our website. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://prbblog.org/?feed=rss2&p=82</wfw:commentRss> </item> <item> <title>When Politics Meets Demographic Data</title> <link>http://prbblog.org/?p=81</link> <comments>http://prbblog.org/?p=81#comments</comments> <pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:33:25 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Bill Butz</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[PRB News]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://prbblog.org/?p=81</guid> <description><![CDATA[by Bill Butz, PRB president Those of us at PRB who attended this year’s IUSSP International Population Conference had an enlightening, exciting, and wonderful time in Marrakesh. We also had a first-hand lesson in what happens when local political realities meet international population data gathering and reporting. Sunday morning of the conference brought a shock to us. [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[by Bill Butz, PRB president Those of us at PRB who attended this year’s IUSSP International Population Conference had an enlightening, exciting, and wonderful time in Marrakesh. We also had a first-hand lesson in what happens when local political realities meet international population data gathering and reporting. Sunday morning of the conference brought a shock to us. Representatives of the host government of Morocco had removed all the publications from PRB’s exhibit booth because two of our data sheets included estimates for Western Sahara, the focus of territorial dispute for decades. The Moroccan government considers Western Sahara part of the Kingdom of Morocco. Other organizations’ materials were also removed for the same reason. We retrieved our publications after agreeing not to distribute publications with the Western Sahara estimates. But the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2009/2009wpds.aspx">World Population Data sheet </a>is our most well-known publication, and many visitors to our booth asked for it expressly. In the end we did distribute the data sheets with the Western Sahara lined blacked out so that these unique resources could eventually be posted on office and classroom walls around the world. Many participants also took our CD-ROM containing more than 80 recent datasheets and publications in English, with many also in French, Spanish, or Arabic. In the end, the important thing is that participants from NGOs and academia were able to get our publications with our objective data and analysis, while we also respected the wishes of the host government. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://prbblog.org/?feed=rss2&p=81</wfw:commentRss> </item> <item> <title>Dispatches From the International Population Conference, Day 4</title> <link>http://prbblog.org/?p=80</link> <comments>http://prbblog.org/?p=80#comments</comments> <pubDate>Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:59:23 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Bill Butz</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[PRB News]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://prbblog.org/?p=80</guid> <description><![CDATA[by Bill Butz, president I’m enjoying this week immensely. Of approximately 904 scientific papers or panel presentations and 856 poster presentations, I’ve personally experienced only a small number. Of the 2,700 participants from scores of countries, though, I’ve been fortunate to talk with a great many—old friends and new, visitors at our PRB booth, chance encounters [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[by Bill Butz, president I’m enjoying this week immensely. Of approximately 904 scientific papers or panel presentations and 856 poster presentations, I’ve personally experienced only a small number. Of the 2,700 participants from scores of countries, though, I’ve been fortunate to talk with a great many—old friends and new, visitors at our PRB booth, chance encounters in the halls, and yes, the souks. <img border="0" src="http://www.iussp.org/marrakech2009/header.jpg" height="100" width="500" /> Seven PRB staff, three senior fellows, and five members of our Board of Trustees are here in Marrakech: PRB staff: Jason Bremner, program director, Population, Health and Environment; Nadwa Mossaad, research associate, Domestic Programs; Nazy Roudi, program director, Middle East and North Africa; Fariyal Fikree, senior program director, Global Health; Mary Kent, senior demographic editor; and Bill Butz, president. Fellows: Tom Merrick, Elaine Murphy, Charlie Teller. Trustees: Wendy Baldwin, The Population Council; Wolfgang Lutz, Vienna Institute of Demography; Joel Cohen, Rockefeller University; Leela Visaria, independent researcher; and Martin Vaessen, ICF Macro. This conference is a prime opportunity to stay abreast of the science in our fields and to contribute to it. You’ll be reading—and hearing—some of the results on the PRB website in coming weeks. (And for a fascinating look back at 50 years of IUSSP conferences—how the topics, authors, and regions have changed—see From Vienna to Marrakech: 50 years of Independent IUSSP Conferences, 1959-2009 from the Vienna Institute of Demography). For several days before the main conference, I participated in a workshop convened by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in collaboration with four European Research Councils: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.esrc.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/index.aspx">Economic and Social Research Council </a>(UK), <a target="_blank" href="http://www.forskningsradet.no/servlet/Satellite?c=Page&cid=1177315753906&p=1177315753906&pagename=ForskningsradetEngelsk%2FHovedsidemal">Research Council of Norway</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.equipop.org/">Equilibres et Populations </a>(France), and WROTO (Netherlands). Together with African experts, communication specialists, and other funders such as USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we considered how to communicate complex research to African policymakers in the context of an <a target="_blank" href="http://www.poppovresearchnetwork.org/">ambitious international program </a>of economic and demographic research just now beginning to produce its first results. We moved at a fast clip. The results are a practical blueprint for action as the scientific findings come on line. These meeting are beautifully organized and the host government and the King have been gracious and generous. Marrakech is lovely and fascinating, and the scientific enterprise regarding population in its many contexts is vibrant. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://prbblog.org/?feed=rss2&p=80</wfw:commentRss> </item> <item> <title>More U.S. Households Receiving Food Stamps</title> <link>http://prbblog.org/?p=79</link> <comments>http://prbblog.org/?p=79#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:08:31 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Mark Mather</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Income/Poverty]]></category> <category><![CDATA[recession]]></category> <category><![CDATA[U.S.]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://prbblog.org/?p=79</guid> <description><![CDATA[by Mark Mather, associate vice president, Domestic Programs Today the Census Bureau released another wave of economic data that showed a 13 percent increase in U.S. households receiving food stamps between 2007 and 2008. Who saw the biggest increase? It was families with two or more workers, who made up 26.9 percent of food stamp recipients in [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[by Mark Mather, associate vice president, Domestic Programs <img align="left" width="197" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3392/3328819706_50dc36da87_m.jpg" height="226" style="width: 197px; height: 213px" />Today the Census Bureau released <a target="_blank" href="http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/american_community_survey_acs/014298.html">another wave of economic data </a>that showed a 13 percent increase in U.S. households receiving food stamps between 2007 and 2008. Who saw the biggest increase? It was families with two or more workers, who made up 26.9 percent of food stamp recipients in 2007 but jumped to 28.4 of recipients in 2008. The numbers, based on new data from the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.census.gov/acs/www/">American Community Survey </a>(ACS), provide more evidence of the recession’s wide-reaching impact, especially on lower-income working families. Nationwide, about 9 percent of U.S. households reported receiving food stamps in 2008, according to ACS data. But ACS respondents are known to underreport participation in the Food Stamp Program. (For more information, see this report from the<a target="_blank" href="http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/ACS/FoodStampFinalReport.pdf"> Census Bureau</a>). The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, which administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program at the federal level, counted 12.7 million households receiving food stamps in 2008, compared with 9.8 million counted in the ACS. The latest numbers from the USDA, from June 2009, puts the number of households receiving food stamp benefits at nearly 16 million. Photo used under Creative Commons from <a target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7476739@N05/3328819706/">Clementine Gallot.</a> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://prbblog.org/?feed=rss2&p=79</wfw:commentRss> </item> <item> <title>Dispatches From the International Population Conference, Day 2</title> <link>http://prbblog.org/?p=78</link> <comments>http://prbblog.org/?p=78#comments</comments> <pubDate>Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:44:39 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Nadwa Mossaad</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[PRB News]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://prbblog.org/?p=78</guid> <description><![CDATA[by Nadwa Mossaad, research associate, Domestic Programs Yesterday marked the opening ceremony of the 26th International Union for the Study of Population (IUSSP) in the ancient red city of Marrakech, located in the center of Morocco bordering the Sahara desert on the foot of the Atlas Mountains. The opening ceremony was impressive, with over 2,300 participants from more than 100 [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[by Nadwa Mossaad, research associate, Domestic Programs Yesterday marked the opening ceremony of the 26th International Union for the Study of Population (IUSSP) in the ancient red city of Marrakech, located in the center of Morocco bordering the Sahara desert on the foot of the Atlas Mountains. <img border="0" src="http://www.iussp.org/marrakech2009/header.jpg" height="100" width="500" /> The opening ceremony was impressive, with over 2,300 participants from more than 100 countries — the largest ever in the history of IUSSP. The ceremony was marked by speeches from the International Organizing Committee’s president Ahmed lahlimi Alami, IUSSP president John Cleland, UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid, former director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for the Arab States Rima Khalaf Hunaidi, and finally from his Majesty the King of Morocco, all highlighting the importance of demographic research in alleviating poverty, increasing education, and advancing women’s rights and human development while paying close attention to the environment and climate change. The meeting’s theme is as varied as the history, culture, and demography of the people of the host country this year. The discussions and presentations will range from the usual to the new and groundbreaking to the controversial, but the general sense is to discuss the challenges facing the world today and the upcoming decade, and to explore the renewed commitment of many stakeholders to appropriately address the issues. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://prbblog.org/?feed=rss2&p=78</wfw:commentRss> </item> <item> <title>Dispatches From the International Population Conference, Day 1</title> <link>http://prbblog.org/?p=77</link> <comments>http://prbblog.org/?p=77#comments</comments> <pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:21:58 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator>Farzaneh Roudi</dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[PRB News]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://prbblog.org/?p=77</guid> <description><![CDATA[by Farzaneh Roudi, program director, Middle East and North Africa Today, the XXVI International Population Conference of the International Union for Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) opened in Marrakech, Morocco. Held once every four years, this is the first time the conference has taken place on the continent of Africa, and the first time it’s been held in an [...]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[by Farzaneh Roudi, program director, Middle East and North Africa Today, the <a href="http://www.iussp.org/marrakech2009/index.php">XXVI International Population Conference of the International Union for Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) </a>opened in Marrakech, Morocco. Held once every four years, this is the first time the conference has taken place on the continent of Africa, and the first time it’s been held in an Arab country. It is also the largest-ever gathering of specialists from the Arab world and population scientists from around the world. <img border="0" src="http://www.iussp.org/marrakech2009/header.jpg" align="middle" height="100" width="500" /> So, it was wonderful to see many of my friends whom I found over the years in different international conferences: a Palestinian woman I first met in India, a Lebanese whom I first met in Egypt, a Sudanese I met in Jordan, and a Saudi I met in Tours, France, where the previous IUSSP conference was held four years ago. The first international conference I attended was in Amman, Jordan in 1993. It was the preparatory meeting of Arab region for the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) that was going to be held in Cairo the following year. The international population conference, a decennial event organized by UNFPA, was held in Cairo in September 1994 and attended by high-level policymakers from 179 countries. As a side meeting, there was a gathering of nongovernmental organizations from around the world, as a way of influencing the high-level policymaking at ICPD. Today, UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid was among the keynote speakers. And again, it is the first time that such a high-level official from UNFPA attended this international conference, which traditionally has been a gathering of academics. There are good reasons for Thoraya Obaid to be here. This year is the 15th anniversary of the Cairo Conference and the fact that the Executive Director is from the region (Saudi Arabia) can explain her participation and support for this conference. But more importantly, such a partnership between UNFPA, the highest policymaking body on population issues at the global level and IUSSP, the largest scientific body for the study of population, is very much welcomed. ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>http://prbblog.org/?feed=rss2&p=77</wfw:commentRss> </item> </channel> </rss>