How Population Control Orgs Are Working Against Africa

Africa’s population is expected to grow from 586 million in 1995 to over 1.3 billion by 2025. Africa as a continent has the highest population growth rate in the world. Sixteen out of the twenty cities with the highest rates of urbanization in the world are in Africa. All historical evidence shows that population growth is good and having a larger population will increase your chances of success as a nation. Most of the emerging economies have huge populations (Brazil, China and India). Yet, one would be amazed by the sheer number of western funded NGOs that have been registered in Africa over the last three decades, whose goal is to reduce population growth in Africa.

Many western funded NGOs are teaching that family planning and education are needed to lower the birthrates to ease pressure on land usage. Africa does NOT have a land or resources issue so this argument falls flat. Others believe that economic development is the solution to population growth. They believe poverty is the root cause of high birth rates. A third view espoused by women’s groups is that framing population growth as a problem and contraception as the solution inadvertently puts the blame on women. In addition, that argument can be used to exploit women for economic gain.

Meanwhile, in most European countries, the population is stagnant or declining. 46% of the world’s population lives in countries with below replacement level fertility rates.Some countries like Japan and Russia even offer citizens incentives for having more children. Yet, development agencies and family planning NGOs which are mostly western funded believe that unless population growth is curtailed, the current rates of population growth will increase demand for resources in an unsustainable way. If population growth has always been good for countries, why are western governments eager to fund organizations that will reduce our growth drastically?

In Rwanda for example, USAID funded IntraHealth International and Family Health International to conduct sterilizations on 700,000 mostly Tutsi men. Also in Ghana, USAID funded a program to promote the use of Norplant. Use among Ghanaian women increased by 290 percent over a two year period, and 145 nurses were trained to insert Norplant. However, the nurses were not collecting the proper informed consent documents from patients. Many women did not fully understand the type of contraception they had been given.

HISTORY OF POPULATION CONTROL IN AFRICA

In December 1975, only Mauritius, Ghana, Kenya and Botswana had official policies designed to reduce population growth. In 1976, African countries received only 13% of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA). By 1985, leaders from 40 African countries met with World Bank officials in Berlin to discuss population control. At the 1994 World Population Conference held in Cairo, Egypt African governments agreed to measures to stabilize world population by providing universal access to family planning and reproductive health services.

By the late 1980s, contraceptive use was highest in Zimbabwe (43%) and Botswana (35%). However, even with contraceptive use, more African women still choose to have more children than women in other parts of the world. So to counter this, they are now funding NGOs that promote feminism and discourage families.

ORGANIZATIONS WORKING AGAINST POPULATION GROWTH IN AFRICA

If you visit the websites of any of the organizations working on population control, you immediately see their target populations: women in Africa and Asia. All these organizations are funded by western governments and large western based foundations. As Africans it is time for us to realize just how detrimental the work of these organizations will be to our overall population growth. Africa is a large continent with many resources yet we have been convinced that we should reduce our population.

1. United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) https://www.unfpa.org/
2. United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
3. Population Services International (PSI) http://www.psi.org/ – Major donors include the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; United Nations agencies; private foundations; corporations and individuals.
4. Marie Stopes International https://www.mariestopes.org/ – an organization that even promotes abortion as a form of population control.
5. International Planned Parenthood Federation
   1. Botswana Family Welfare Association
   2. Cameroon National Planning Association for Family Welfare (CAMNAFAW)
   3. Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia (FGAE)
   4. Family Health Options of Kenya (FHOK)
   5. Family Life Association of Swaziland (FLAS)
   6. Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM)
   7. Lesotho Planned Parenthood Association
   8. Namibia Family Planning Association (NAPPA)
   9. Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana
   10. Planned Parenthood Association of Liberia
   11. Planned Parenthood Association of Sierra Leone
   12. Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia
   13. Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria
   14. Reproductive Health Uganda
   15. Chama cha Uzazi na Malezi Bora Tanzania (UMATI)
6. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
7. John Hopkins University Berman Institute of Bioethics Research- believe that one solution to global warming is controlling the population.

As Africans let’s begin to ask questions about some of the NGOs operating in our countries. If the goal of western governments is to exploit Africa, then even the organizations they fund will ultimately exploit Africa too.