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March 13, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Expert on Population and International Development
to Speak at Smith College

NORTHAMPTON, Mass.-Steven W. Sinding, director-general designate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPFF), will be at Smith College Wednesday, April 3, answering the question: "Is the Population Crisis Over?" The free public lecture will be held at 8 p.m. in the Neilson Library Browsing Room.


Sinding, who will be assuming leadership of IPFF this September, has written extensively on international population issues and has lectured to both academic and general audiences, drawing upon his more than 25 years of professional experience as a population and reproductive health expert. He is currently on the faculty of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and is directing a three-year collaborative study with Columbia's School for International and Public Affairs on the future of development cooperation with an emphasis on reproductive health and population programs.


In expressing his concern about the current and future state of global reproductive health and his belief that the IPFF can play a critical role in improving the situation, Sinding has said, "Every year nearly 80 million unintended pregnancies occur worldwide, and every minute, one woman dies of pregnancy-related complications, many of [these women] are adolescents. ... World population is set to grow by 50 percent in the next 50 years-a rise of more than 3 billion people-and half the world currently exists on less than $2 a day."


Nevertheless, he says, "...demography is not destiny. The history of the past 35 years has shown that a strong political will, sound programs and adequate financing can bring about dramatic changes in reproductive behavior far beyond what demographers actually predicted."


Sinding's talk is sponsored by the Population Committee of the Pioneer Valley Sierra Club, the Smith College Project on Women and Social Change, the Smith College Office of the President, and the Smith College Environmental Science and Policy Program. Additional sponsors include Tapestry Health Systems and the Mount Holyoke College Environmental Literacy Program.


For more information on Sinding's talk or about the Population Committee of the Pioneer Valley Sierra Club, call Anita King at (413) 268-9212.

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