Melinda Gates, a strong advocate and champion for family planning, shares her perspectives leading up to the London Summit on Family Planning in this brief blog post and video posted on the United Nations Foundation's blog, Global Connections. This video, in a fun cartoon style, explains the benefits of family planning, like how $1 spent on family planning could save $6 spent on other forms of aid such as housing, healthcare, and public services.
As we get closer to the London Summit on Family Planning, people often ask me, “Why is family planning so important to you?” The simple answer is that it can mean everything to so many of the women and families I meet. It means the difference between being empowered and feeling powerless. It means the difference between celebrating a daughter’s graduation and watching her drop out of school. It even means the difference between life and death.
On July 11, 2012 from 9am to 12pm EST, the Universal Access Project will be hosting a tweetchat about the London Summit on Family Planning.
The hashtag for this tweetchat is: #FPChat. To follow other summit related tweets use the hashtag: #FPSummit.
The schedule for the chat is:
8:45 EST (13:45 BST): Introduction by the UN Foundation's Universal Access Project
9:00 EST (14:00 BST): The Gates Foundation and DFID will discuss the keynote speeches and action from Summit
9:30 EST (14:30 BST): An MSI Outreach Worker from Kampala, Uganda will share experiences about delivering services on the ground
10:00 EST (15:00 BST): Nike's Girl Effect Project will talk about the importance of empowering adolescent girls
10:30 EST (15:30 BST): USAID will discuss the U.S. Government's role in international reproductive health and family planning
11:00 EST (16:00 BST): The White Ribbon Alliance will talk about the implementation of commitments
11:30 EST (16:30 BST): The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child health and Every Woman Every Child will share insights on private-sector commitments
12:00 EST (16:30 BST): Wrap up by the UN Foundation's Universal Access Project
