Pregnancy and childbirth are deadly to more than half a million women worldwide every year  a fact that is unacceptable, but not unavoidable. Despite twenty years of campaigning to improve their sexual and reproductive health, the risk of dying in pregnancy or childbirth continues to show the largest gap between the rich and poor of all development statistics. That so little progress has been made in helping the world's poorest women survive pregnancy and childbirth should serve as a wake-up call to all of us.

Population Action International (PAI) is an independent policy advocacy group working to strengthen political and financial support worldwide for population programs grounded in individual rights. Founded in 1965, PAI is a private, non-profit group and accepts no government funds.

Filmed in Kenya and Uganda, this 9-minute documentary provides a snapshot of the Bush administrationís abstinence-only approach to HIV prevention as part of its global HIV/AIDS assistance. Abstaining from Reality examines how these ideologically-driven programs are actually endangering the lives of the people theyíre supposed to be protecting. This policy is disconnected from the reality of the lives of women and young people, who are disproportionately affected by the epidemic. The film urges a balanced, comprehensive approach to preventing HIV infections by providing full and accurate information and a range of services that empower individuals to make informed decisions.

In 1994, at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, 179 nations endorsed an approach to improving reproductive health based on meeting individual needs and respecting human rights. They pledged to share the costs needed to make basic reproductive health care available to all who need it by 2015. Today, however, most donor and developing countries still fall short of paying their fair share.

Drought, floods, severe weather and other effects of climate change have begun to threaten communities in many parts of the world. These impacts will worsen in the future, contributing to growing human migration as vulnerable people seek safer, more stable living conditions. This expected migration of hundreds of millions of people can negatively affect human well being and political stability.

The term-CBPE for short-refers to the linkages between services that combine aspects of natural resources conservation or similar environmental work and the provision of reproductive health services, including family planning.

Nearly 80 million unintended pregnancies occur worldwide every year. More than half of these pregnancies end in abortion, often in countries where abortion is illegal and access to contraception is limited. Access to voluntary family planning services, including contraception, is essential in helping to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and, consequently, the incidence of abortion.

Empty Handed tells the story of women’s lack of access to reproductive health supplies in sub-Saharan Africa, and its impact on their lives. The film documents the challenges at each level of the supply chain and identifies key areas for improvement. Empty Handed aims to provoke discussion and mobilize support for reproductive health supplies.

Each year, over 600,000 children around the world are infected with HIV through mother-to-child-transmission, totaling 2.3 million children living with HIV or AIDS today. The majority of these infections is occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and are acquired from mothers during pregnancy, labor, delivery or breastfeeding. While programs to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother-to-child (PMTCT) are invaluable, they currently are reaching only an estimated five percent of the HIV-positive population.

The phrase population crisis once roused fears of uncontrollable growth in human numbers. However, now that many societies have improved women's status and increased access to family planning, some analysts argue that if there is a population crisis it is because women are having too few children-a so-called birth dearth. A quick look at the demographic reality shows that the era of population growth is far from over-and high fertility rates are still prevalent in many developing countries.