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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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