The world's population has exploded in the last hundred years, in great part due to the development of fossil fuels and the subsequent growth of modern agricultural practices and mass food production. As a result, we are straining all of the Earth's resources and crowding out all other species. This massive human population growth may be the single most powerful impact that fossil fuels have had on the planet. The only fair and proven solution to population growth lies in the empowerment of women. It has been shown that when women are given social, political and economic power, population stabilizes and may even decrease.
To learn more about the population issue and how you can support organizations currently working to address issues of population growth and the empowerment of women:
The United Nations Foundation
The UN Foundation strengthens and supports the United
Nations and its causes through advocacy, grant-making
and partnerships. They work with UN agencies, partners,
NGOs and others on a number of issues affecting women
and population. After thirty years, their efforts to address
rapid population growth, empower women and enhance
development are at a critical juncture.
Population Connection
Formerly known as Zero Population Growth, Population Connection is a national grassroots population organization that educates young people and advocates progressive action to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by Earth's resources.
The Global Fund for Women
This international network of women and men advocates for and defends women's human rights by making grants to support women's groups around the world. The Fund makes grants to seed, strengthen and link women's rights groups working to address human rights issues that include: ensuring economic and environmental justice, advancing health and sexual and reproductive rights, expanding civic and political participation and increasing access to education.
United Nations Development Fund for Women
UNIFEM provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programs and strategies to foster women's empowerment and gender equality. Placing the advancement of women's human rights at the center of all of its efforts, UNIFEM focuses on four key areas: reducing feminized poverty, ending violence against women, reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS among women and girls, and achieving gender equality in democratic governance in times of peace as well as war.
Women's Human Rights NET
A collaborative Information & Communication Technology (ICT) project developed by an international coalition of women's organizations, whrNET aims to strengthen advocacy for women's human rights through the effective use of information and communication technologies.
