Focus on Family Planning - January 2008
Linking Population, Health, and the Environment to Build Resilient Communities
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Agriculture Specialist supporting a PHE project in Awassa, Ethiopia.
Source: Lauren Strange/USAID
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Population, health, and environment (PHE) programs can play an important role in areas where demographic trends such as growth and migration place pressure on the environment; where degraded natural resources impact the health and livelihoods of local communities; and where a lack of effective health services, including reproductive health, threatens long-term prospects for sustainable development. The key objective of these programs is to simultaneously improve access to health services while helping communities manage their natural resources in ways that improve their health and livelihood even as they protect the environment.
Get the Facts
Balancing People and the Environment to Promote Resilient Communities [PDF, 214KB]
The health of the planet and its inhabitants depends on the reproductive choices that people make. For countries already struggling to provide adequate food, water, shelter, and jobs, rapid population growth can further reduce the possibilities of improving the lives of the poor. Read about the ways in which USAID is addressing the problems associated with rapid population growth by linking PHE programs.
Online Tools and Resources
USAID is pleased to announce four new online tools to help practitioners better understand how to design and implement successful community-based development programs that link interventions in population, health, and environment
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Melogen Tipon is one of 25 family planning volunteers in the Philippines who have been trained by a USAID-funded PHE Project. The volunteers meet with couples in their communities to talk about the importance of planning family sizes so that families can continue to be healthy, and parents can provide for their children without negatively impacting the environment. Read the success story. Source: World Wildlife Fund |
- Population, Health, and Environment Basics – An E-Learning Course
Do you know why population, environment, and development are inextricably linked? In this free online course, which takes approximately 2.5 hours, you will explore the ways in which population, health, and the environment interact in people's lives. You will have the opportunity to gain an insider's view of 1) the basics of integrated PHE programming; 2) successful PHE programs from around the world; and 3) tools and resources that can help you develop integrated programs.
To access “Population, Health, and Environment Basics,”
- Go to the Global Health Learning Web site
- If you are a returning user, enter your username and password. If you are new to the site, click “register” to get started
- Once you are logged in, choose “Population, Health, and Environment Basics” from the Course List
- The Population, Health, and Environment Web Site
Dedicated to sharing information, tools, and best practices in integrating population, health, and the environment, this Web site contains a description of current PHE initiatives and a clearinghouse of PHE-specific documents, publications, and tools from projects from around the world. Visit the PHE Web site
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Source: © 2006 Scott Harrison, Courtesy of Photoshare |
Integrating Population, Health, and Environment Projects: A Programming Manual
Achieving environmentally sustainable development in situations of surging population growth, declining biodiversity, and chronic poverty requires strategic planning, multidisciplinary interventions, and cross-sector linked approaches that mirror the livelihood strategies of poor households and communities. This manual was designed with such a need in mind, using evidence from programs in Madagascar, the Philippines, and other countries where integrated approaches to development have been explored and brought to scale over the past decade. Download the guide [PDF, 996KB]
- A Guide for Monitoring and Evaluating Population-Health-Environment Programs
MEASURE Evaluation’s PHE monitoring and evaluation guide provides a series of established evidence-based indicators for measuring progress and promoting evaluation of PHE programs in the field. In the manual, indicators are grouped into five programmatic areas of importance: population, health, environment, integration, and value added. Each indicator includes a clear definition, measurement level, calculation, statement of purpose, data sources, time frame, data collection considerations, and strengths and weaknesses. The guide is intended to provide a selection of indicators that are applicable throughout the diverse PHE community. The goal is for use of these key indicators to provide common language, reliable information, and quality data that will enable the PHE community to compare and assess projects across communities, countries, and program areas.
The guide is available to download from the MEASURE Evaluation publications page and will be available in hard-copy January 2008.
USAID Population, Health, and Environment Successes
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A local villager showing Judy Oglethorpe of WWF-US how the fuel-saving stoves are constructed. Source: World Wildlife Fund |
Cambodia
Kenya
Madagascar
Philippines
Additional Resources
Upcoming Event
- Third National Conference on Population, Health, and Environment: Scaling Up PHE - March 5-7, 2008 [PDF,756KB]
Conservation International (CI) is hosting the 3rd National Conference on
Population, Health, and Environment on March 5-7, 2008 at the Taal Vista Hotel in
Tagaytay City, Philippines. The theme of the conference is “Scaling Up PHE.” The conference explores increasing the impact of integrated PHE projects and programs in various dimensions:
geographically, programmatically, organizationally, and networking.
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