WASHINGTON, DC, July 11, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- From poverty to hunger, human rights to pollution, the world faces a host of challenges in trying to build a more sustainable future. Yet there's one inexpensive opportunity that can make a difference for families all over the globe: ensuring that women have the power to plan their families.
On World Population Day (July 11, 2014), a new website launches that features the interconnected stories of women's empowerment through access to family planning, and the benefits for a more sustainable world. WomenAtTheCenter.org is designed to be a resource for advocates, journalists and decision-makers to dig deeper into these connections and hear from powerful voices from the reproductive rights and conservation communities.
The idea for Women at the Center stemmed from the untold story that when women are empowered to space their pregnancies, women, children and families are healthier and happier, and there's a dramatic ripple effect for communities and the planet. Empowering women helps boost food security and access to clean water, families and communities become more prosperous and sustainable, and the natural world that we all depend upon can flourish.
In fact, for every $1 invested in family planning, the world reaps $4 in benefits , ranging from enhanced human rights to healthier families to increased food security; from reduced pressure on natural resources to increased opportunities for economic growth. That makes family planning funding one of the least expensive – and least complicated – opportunities for progress for people and the planet.
By providing a central source for visuals, articles and stories about these connections, Women at the Center hopes to arm advocates with the information they need to promote access to family planning for the estimated 222 million women in the developing world want to delay or avoid a pregnancy, yet aren't using modern contraception, for reasons ranging from empty clinic shelves to a lack of health education.
Learn more at www.womenatthecenter.org
Cat Lazaroff cell: 202-365-1329
