On November 14, Executive Director of FP2020 Beth Schlachter was interviewed by VOA Africa at the fifth International Conference on Family Planning in Kigali, Rwanda. During the segment, beginning at 15:26 and ending at 16:51, Schlacter stressed the impact women’s health has on a country’s economy and development:
“High population growth can be an impediment to all development indicators, and it has really personal impacts on women and families. You generally see there are higher rates of maternal deaths, as well, [and] women having repeat pregnancies before they’re bodies have a chance to recover. We know that when a family loses a mother, their economic prospects diminish incredibly. They chance for those children to stay in school: they go down. So, if we can’t keep mothers alive, if we can’t keep women healthy, then a country really is under a burden to try and grow economically.”
