Celebrate Earth Day - April 22, 2009
It’s good for the planet, and it’s good for your health.
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This is a slide show for World Water Day which is March 22, 2009. Each photo is of a child washing their hands with soap or getting clean water from different countries around the world.
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A man shades himself from the sun with an umbrella as he carries drinking water across the dry bed of the Upper Lake in Bhopal, India.
Source: Prakash Hatvalne, Courtesy of Photoshare |
USAID is helping to protect our world.
Human health depends on clean air and water, along with safe and sustainable sources for food, which in turn are dependent on the healthy functioning of the world’s ecosystems. The state of the earth also impacts world efforts to reduce poverty and improve the lives of all the world’s people.
To whom does this matter?
It matters to the mother in Thailand, who must carry firewood for miles to cook her family’s food because most of the forests near her village have already been cleared for human use.
It matters to rice farmers in Madagascar, who are stripping their island nation of its natural resources in order to eke out their livelihood.
It matters to families in Ethiopia, who suffer terribly through periodic droughts – which, with proper farming and health care, could be prevented – that kill thousands and keep this nation’s people in a recurring cycle of famine and poverty.
What can be done?
Family planning programs result in smaller and healthier families that can better manage and utilize the earth’s natural resources. Family planning can also serve as one of the many “stabilization wedges” to mitigate climate change in combination with large-scale development of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency measures, increased fuel economy, and carbon sequestration. And, smaller healthier families lead to healthier communities that are more resilient to the potential impacts of climate change, such as changing weather patterns and extreme weather events.
Population programs are:
- Inexpensive – An investment of $100 million in family planning programs results in 3.6 million more family planning users, 2.1 million fewer unintended pregnancies, and 825,000
abortions prevented.
- Easy to implement – USAID, along with governmental; nongovernmental; and corporate partners, has more than 40 years experience in expanding access to family planning and reproductive health services, resulting in more women and couples in the developing world having the smaller families they desire.
- Essential – Community-based population programs, especially those integrated into natural resource management activities, play an essential role in building community resiliency
and adaptability.
- Helpful – Smaller families tend to be healthier families, particularly in the developing world, and are likely to be more resilient to the environmental and human health impacts
of climate change.
How does USAID help make a difference?
Population assistance programs can help address the climate crisis at the global and local levels. USAID is working to make it happen by:
- Targeting financial support for international family planning programs in areas where population growth directly impacts the earth’s unique biodiversity.
- Integrating the Population, Health and Environment approach because it is a unique programmatic solution to adapting to climate change at the local level.
- Helping couples achieve their desired goals in number and spacing of their children, so that their families can reduce their impact on the environment.
Learn more
Celebrate Earth Day
Find out what Earth Day events are taking place near you and what you can do to help.
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