It took a generation for Ireland to get family planning will it take a lifetime for this woman?
	IFPA Parliamentarian Briefing Kit
	Mary Banotti

The above headline crowns a full-page advertisement that appeared in The Irish Times. It is part of the impressive Face to Face Campaign undertaken by the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA).

The message of the campaign is directed to the Irish government Minister of State with Responsibility for Overseas Development Assistance. The Campaign challenges Liz O'Donnell to increase Irish Overseas Development Aid in order to reach the United Nations goal of 0.7% of GNP, and to increase the proportion of ODA for reproductive health services. The 1997 MORI Public Opinion Survey undertaken for the Face to Face Campaign shows that most Irish people support these goals, specifically the provision of family planning services and advice in developing countries. Irish citizens also agree that the Irish government should help fund these services.

In 1998, Irish Aid donated ?300,000 to UNFPA out of a total ODA budget of ?139.6 million, approximately 0.2%. Despite ICPD program funding promises, the Irish government has failed to pay its fair share of the cost, which is estimated to be about the same as a fast food meal for everyone in Ireland.

Because of the worldwide shortfall in funding for the ICPD programme, this year alone there will be an estimated 130 million more unwanted pregnancies, 59 million more unwanted births and 300,000 more maternal deaths. In addition, 3.6 million more infants and 1 million more children will die from poor healthcare.

Tony O'Brien, Executive Director of IFPA, helped create the IFPA Face to Face Campaign. He believes it has had a positive impact on the Irish public and the Irish government. Designed to facilitate participation, readers were asked to mail a postcard (provided in the ad) to Minister O'Donnell.

Recently, Tony reported: "The Irish government has been bombarded with thousands of public requests for increases in ODA. The Book of Estimates, the forerunner to the government's Y2000 budget, provides for an unprecedented 16% increase in Irish ODA. An important step in the right direction, we will now lobby to ensure that ICPD activities receive a significant share of this allocation."

The IFPA compiled a Parliamentarian's Briefing Kit as another useful tool in their Campaign. This well-designed kit consists of eight pages of information addressing women's rights, youth rights, human stories, the Face to Face Campaign and what needs to be done.

A "Women's Rights" page describes the need for gender equality and reproductive rights. It points out that "half of all women in Africa and about a third in Latin America give birth in their teens, and they are twice as likely to die in childbirth as adults."

A "Youth Rights" page deals with teenage pregnancies, HIV/AIDS, sexuality counseling and education programs. "Each extra year of school for girls can translate into a reduction in fertility rates, as well as a decrease in maternal deaths in childbirth."

The "What needs to be done?" page discusses the roles of Ireland, its government agencies, its Department of Foreign Affairs, NGOs and the media in a partnership to improve family planning services around the world. "In an interconnected world, we all benefit from ensuring that people everywhere enjoy the human right to family planning just as we do now in Ireland. The prospects for peace and economic development in the 21st century will depend, among other things, on sustainable population growth and meeting human needs. Without continued commitment, we will not succeed."

A "Success Story" describes how parts of the ICPD programme of action are working. For example, two-thirds of all countries have introduced policies or legislative measures to promote gender equality and women's empowerment. In some countries in East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean, average family size has fallen from six children to two or fewer children in just a single generation. In Uganda, the rate of HIV infections among young people dropped by more than three- quarters from 239,000 in 1987 to 57,000 in 1997, and the prevalence of HIV infections among pregnant women in urban areas declined by 40%.

In a section titled "The Lottery of Life", a face to face comparison is used to illustrate the disparity in the lives of women in the developed and developing world.

Mary Banotti, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador and Face to Face Campaign spokesperson for Ireland, is one of the most respected and popular politicians in Ireland. She is an active and influential MEP who serves on parliamentarian committees dealing with social welfare, health and women's issues. Mary Banotti's outspoken commitment to the issues of the Face to Face Campaign is already benefiting the IFPA.

"The human family has grown to six billion people. We owe all of these people, wherever they live, a better future and a fairer world. I am supporting the IFPA Face to Face Campaign because I believe that in Ireland, as in all developed nations, we carry a significant responsibility to help bring about that better future."