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NewSecurityBeat

The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program

Alyssa Kumler

Alyssa is a Maternal Health Initiative Intern and a recent graduate of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her work aims to improve population health and focuses on social determinants of health, as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights. Before attending Harvard, Alyssa earned a master’s degree in sociology and holds undergraduate degrees in both psychology and sociology.

  • Global Population Growth is an Opportunity to Invest in People

    ›
    Dot-Mom  //  December 7, 2022  //  By Alyssa Kumler
    Copy of 1025 Live Tweeting Templates (645 × 430 px) (645 × 500 px)

    Just in the last minute, 169 more people were born on planet Earth, and everyday more than a quarter of a million are added to that total. John Milewski, Moderator of Wilson Center NOW, laid out these astonishing facts at the beginning of a Wilson Center NOW conversation on the implications of global population growth with Wilson Center Fellow Jennifer Sciubba on November 14— the eve of the historic day when the number of people on the planet officially surpassed 8 billion. 

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  • Gender-Based Violence Continues to Impede Progress Towards Gender Equality

    ›
    Dot-Mom  //  Reading Radar  //  November 30, 2022  //  By Alyssa Kumler
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    “COVID-19 and the backlash against women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights are further diminishing the outlook for gender equality,” states a recent report on the current progress toward gender equality across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Yet the new report also zeroes in on another factor that is diminish progress on gender equality: violence. The authors observe that “violence against women remains high, global health, climate and humanitarian crises have further increased risks of violence, especially for the most vulnerable women and girls, and women feel more unsafe than they did before the pandemic.”

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  • An Inextricable Link: Maternal and Newborn Health and Climate Change

    ›
    Dot-Mom  //  November 16, 2022  //  By Alyssa Kumler
    Barpeta,,Assam,,India.,July,12,,2019.,People,Wade,Through,Flooded

    “The effects of climate change can begin in the womb,” said Sarah Barnes, the Project Director of the Maternal Health Initiative at the Wilson Center at a recent event on the impact of climate change on maternal and newborn health outcomes, hosted by the Wilson Center and UNFPA. It is a connection that “[makes] it imperative that climate change and maternal and newborn health leaders work together to tackle climate change and improve maternal and newborn health outcomes, globally.”

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  • The Crisis of Perinatal Mental Health Requires Collaborative Solutions

    ›
    Dot-Mom  //  October 26, 2022  //  By Alyssa Kumler
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    While a great deal of focus on risks to women’s health just before and after giving birth centers on physical wellbeing, Rebecca Levine, Senior Maternal Health Advisor with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), observed that we may be missing a key part of the picture.

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  • Reproductive Autonomy: The Goal in Family Planning

    ›
    Dot-Mom  //  October 12, 2022  //  By Alyssa Kumler
    Close-up,Of,Woman,Holding,A,Contraceptive,Pills.,Concept,Of,Contraception

    The 15th anniversary of World Contraception Day (WCD) on September 26th was a perfect moment to renew the commitment to increase awareness and knowledge about contraceptive methods. But the availability of safe and effective methods is not enough. Reproductive autonomy, which is defined as “having the power to decide about and control matters associated with contraceptive use, pregnancy, and childbearing,” is also a central tenet of both WCD and the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. People must be supported in making their own decisions about their sexual and reproductive health, including if and how they become pregnant.

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  • Sharing Stories: Prioritizing Sexual and Reproductive Health in Universal Health Coverage

    ›
    Dot-Mom  //  September 7, 2022  //  By Alyssa Kumler

    BHO (Basic Health Unit), Dogran Kalan Union Counsil, Wagah, Punjab Province, Pakistan:::  Client: Tahira Rashid.  Dr. Fauzia Amin FMO (Female Medical Officer)

    “Globally women and girls continue to face barriers to access healthcare services—whether it be transport costs, financial costs, or even language barriers,” said Shakira Choonara, Technical Specialist with the World Health Organization (WHO) at a recent launch event of the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Learning by Sharing Portal (LSP).

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  • How Gender Inequality Drives the Global Crisis of Unintended Pregnancy

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    Dot-Mom  //  From the Wilson Center  //  July 27, 2022  //  By Alyssa Kumler
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    “Half. This is the proportion of all pregnancies that are unintended. That is 121 million pregnancies every year,” said Sarah Craven, Director of the Washington D.C. Office at UNFPA during a recent U.S. launch event for the 2022 UNFPA State of World Population (SWOP) report. “For these women, the most life altering reproductive choice, whether to become pregnant or not, is no choice at all. This is an unseen crisis unfolding right before our eyes.”

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  • Midwives in Humanitarian Crises Need Recognition and Investment

    ›
    Dot-Mom  //  From the Wilson Center  //  July 13, 2022  //  By Alyssa Kumler
    Cox's,Bazar,,Bangladesh:,October,14,,2017-,Medicare,Midwives,Make,Pregnant

    More than 60 percent of preventable maternal deaths and 45 percent of newborn deaths take place in countries affected by recent conflict, natural disaster, or both. Yet as Sarah B. Barnes, Project Director of the Maternal Health Initiative, observed at a recent event hosted by the Wilson Center and UNFPA, in collaboration with the Inter-agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crisis (IAWG) and White Ribbon Alliance, “the leading causes of both maternal and newborn death occurring in humanitarian settings are considered to be preventable if managed by skilled providers and adequate resources.”

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