![]() A Global Leader in Sexual and Reproductive Health | |
Formation | 1957 |
---|---|
Type | INGO |
Legal status | Foundation |
Purpose | Sexual and reproductive health and rights, Humanitarian |
Region served | Africa, South Asia |
CEO | Lois Quam |
President, South Asia, Middle East, and North Africa | Tabinda Sarosh |
Board Chair | Collin Mothupi |
Budget | $130 million |
Staff | 1,271 people worldwide |
Website | www |
Pathfinder International is a global non-profit organization that focuses on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including reproductive health, family planning, HIV/AIDS prevention and care, and maternal and newborn health. The organization operates in more than 15 low- and middle-income countries in Africa and South Asia. Its website states: "Pathfinder is driven by the conviction that all people, regardless of where they live, have the right to decide whether and when to have children, to exist free from fear and stigma, and to lead the lives they choose." [1]
Pathfinder International originally was incorporated as The Pathfinder Fund in 1957. Its family planning work began in the late 1920s when its founder Clarence Gamble, heir of the Procter & Gamble soap company fortune, supported efforts to introduce contraception to women and couples in the United States and 60 other countries. In addition to his eugenicist work, he worked toward easy access to contraception in minority communities. He also launched the first community-based service model, which is still the foundation of Pathfinder's operations.[ citation needed ]
Sarah Gamble, Clarence Gamble's wife, named the organization in honour of a quote by the poet Antonio Machado: "Traveler, there is no path, paths are made by walking."
Pathfinder surpassed revenue of US$100 million for the first time in the 2010 fiscal year. [2] In 2011, Pathfinder announced the retirement of Daniel E. Pellegrom, the longest-serving president of a global reproductive health organization in history after becoming CEO of Pathfinder International in 1985. In 2012, Purnima Mane joined Pathfinder as president and CEO after serving as deputy director of United Nations Population Fund. [3]
Lois Quam, named three times to Fortune magazine's list of the most influential women leaders in business, became Pathfinder's president and CEO in 2017. She was chief operating officer of The Nature Conservancy and a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. She was selected by President Barack Obama to head his signature Global Health Initiative at the Department of State, [4] which provided more than $8 billion annually to help solve major health challenges facing millions of individuals across 80 countries. In 2022, Dr. Tabinda Sarosh was named president of South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.
Pathfinder was one of several nonprofits mentioned in the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, published in September 2009.
Pathfinder International works with many organizations, ranging from national ministries of health to local NGOs, to deliver reproductive health, family planning information, and services to women, young adults, and rural populations. Pathfinder's programs also integrate HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment activities. The group has worked with UN Women, the UNFPA, the World Bank, and several other partners to organize different programs and projects. [5]
Pathfinder's programs in more than 15 countries in Africa and South Asia expand access to modern contraception and comprehensive abortion care as well as improve adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health, fostering gender equality and resilience. [6]
A little over half of the group's $130 million in funding came from the United States Agency for International Development in fiscal year 2019. [8] In addition, the organization receives funding from multilateral organizations, private foundations, and individuals. As part of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, U.S. government support for AIDS prevention was contingent on opposing prostitution starting in 2003. [9] Pathfinder preferred to remain neutral so as not to alienate sex workers from its anti-HIV efforts, so it sued in federal court with other non-profit organizations. [10] In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the requirement violated the First Amendment's prohibition against compelled speech in Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, Inc. [11] In early 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court returned with another ruling in favour of the Alliance for Open Society International. The latest decision affirmed a 2013 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which found that the government cannot tell its American grantees what they can and cannot say. [12]
Like many older birth control organizations,[ citation needed ] Pathfinder initially overlapped with the eugenics movement. The founder, Clarence Gamble, was a member of the Human Betterment League of North Carolina and advocated the forced sterilization of mental patients. [13]
During the 1970s, the organization was accused of distributing unsafe contraceptives. Specifically, Pathfinder continued to distribute the Dalkon Shield internationally after it had been withdrawn from the U.S. market due to high infection rates and used Depo-Provera when it was considered experimental before FDA approval. [14]
In 2022, Pathfinder started a process of reckoning with its history and has donated its archives to Harvard University, where researchers can freely access them.
The Mexico City policy, sometimes referred to by its critics as the global gag rule, is a former United States government policy that blocked U.S. federal funding for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provided abortion counseling or referrals, advocated to decriminalize abortion, or expanded abortion services. When in effect, the Mexico City policy is a U.S. government policy that requires foreign non-governmental organizations to certify that they will not "perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning" with non-U.S. funds as a condition for receiving U.S. global family planning assistance, and during its January 23, 2017 implementation any other U.S. global health assistance, including U.S. global HIV and maternal and child health (MCH) assistance.
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:
Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.
Compulsory sterilization, also known as forced or coerced sterilization, is a government-mandated program to involuntarily sterilize a specific group of people. Sterilization removes a person's capacity to reproduce, and is usually done through surgical procedures. Several countries implemented sterilization programs in the early 20th century. Although such programs have been made illegal in most countries of the world, instances of forced or coerced sterilizations persist.
The United States President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is a United States governmental initiative to address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and help save the lives of those suffering from the disease. Launched by U.S. President George W. Bush in 2003, as of May 2020, PEPFAR has provided about $90 billion in cumulative funding for HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and research since its inception, making it the largest global health program focused on a single disease in history until the COVID-19 pandemic. PEPFAR is implemented by a combination of U.S. government agencies in over 50 countries and overseen by the Global AIDS Coordinator at the United States Department of State. As of 2023, PEPFAR has saved over 25 million lives, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa.
Clarence James Gamble was an American medical doctor and the heir of the Procter and Gamble soap company fortune. He was an advocate of birth control and eugenics, and he founded Pathfinder International.
The Population Council is an international, nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The Council conducts research in biomedicine, social science, and public health and helps build research capacities in developing countries. One-third of its research relates to HIV and AIDS; while its other major program areas are still linked to its early foundation in reproductive health and its relation to poverty, youth, and gender. For example, the Population Council strives to teach boys that they can be involved in contraceptive methods regardless of stereotypes that limit male responsibility in child bearing. The organization held the license for Norplant contraceptive implant, and now holds the license for Mirena intrauterine system. The Population Council also publishes the journal Population and Development Review, which reports scientific research on the interrelationships between population and socioeconomic development. It also provides a forum for discussion on related issues of public policy and Studies in Family Planning, which focuses on public health, social science, and biomedical research involving sexual and reproductive health, fertility, and family planning.
EngenderHealth is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. with a focus in sexual and reproductive health (SRH). The organization operates in nearly 20 countries throughout Africa, Asia, and North and South America.
MSI Reproductive Choices, named Marie Stopes International until November 2020, is an international non-governmental organisation providing contraception and safe abortion services in 37 countries around the world. MSI Reproductive Choices as an organisation lobbies in favour of access to abortion, and provides a variety of sexual and reproductive healthcare services including advice, vasectomies, and abortions in the UK and other countries where it is legal to do so. It is based in London and is a registered charity under English law.
Reproductive justice is a critical feminist framework that was invented as a response to United States reproductive politics. The three core values of reproductive justice are the right to have a child, the right to not have a child, and the right to parent a child or children in safe and healthy environments. The framework moves women's reproductive rights past a legal and political debate to incorporate the economic, social, and health factors that impact women's reproductive choices and decision-making ability.
Population Action International (PAI) is an international, civil society organization that uses research and advocacy to improve global access to family planning and reproductive health care. Its mission is to "advance universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights through advocacy, partnerships and the funding of changemakers". PAI's headquarters is in Washington, D.C.
HIV/AIDS in Lesotho constitutes a very serious threat to Basotho and to Lesotho's economic development. Since its initial detection in 1986, HIV/AIDS has spread at alarming rates in Lesotho. In 2000, King Letsie III declared HIV/AIDS a natural disaster. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in 2016, Lesotho's adult prevalence rate of 25% is the second highest in the world, following Eswatini.
The Federal government of the United States requires certain non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive federal anti-HIV/AIDS or anti-trafficking funds to adopt an organization-wide policy opposing prostitution and sex-trafficking. This requirement, known as the anti-prostitution pledge, has been in place since 2003.
Alliance for Open Society International, Inc. (AOSI) is a U.S. public charity organized in 2003 under the laws of the State of Delaware.
Purnima Mane is an Indian author and sexual and reproductive health expert who held many senior leadership roles in United Nations and global health roles. She serves on the board of governors of the International Development Research Centre and is the founding editor of Culture, Health and Sexuality academic journal.
The Global Health Council is a United States-based non-profit leading networking organization "supporting and connecting advocates, implementers and stakeholders around global health priorities worldwide". The Council is the world's largest membership alliance dedicated to advancing policies and programs that improve health around the world. The Council serves and represents thousands of public health professionals from over 150 countries. They work "to improve health globally through increased investment, robust policies and the power of the collective voice.": According to their website the Council "convenes stakeholders around key global health priorities and actively engages key decision makers to influence health policy."
CONRAD is a non-profit scientific research organization that works to improve global and reproductive health, particularly in women in developing countries. CONRAD was established in 1986 under a cooperative agreement between Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). CONRAD’s products are developed primarily for women in low-resource settings, in that they are designed to be safe, affordable and user-friendly. CONRAD is led by Scientific and Executive Director Gustavo F. Doncel, M.D., Ph.D. Primary funding for CONRAD comes from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with additional funding from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Founded in 1999, Alliance India is a non-governmental organisation operating in partnership with civil society, government and communities to support sustained responses to HIV in India that protect rights and improve health. Complementing the Indian national programme, we build capacity, provide technical support and advocate to strengthen the delivery of effective, innovative, community-based HIV programmes to vulnerable populations: sex workers, men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender people, hijras, people who inject drugs (PWID), and people living with HIV.
Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, Inc., 570 U.S. 205 (2013), also known as AOSI I, was a United States Supreme Court decision in which the court ruled that conditions imposed on recipients of certain federal grants amounted to a restriction of freedom of speech and violated the First Amendment.
Grace Ebun Delano is a nurse and midwife who has played a key role in pioneering family planning and reproductive health services in Nigeria. She co-founded the Association for Reproductive and Family Health of which she was director for many years, has acted as consultant for many different organisations across Africa, and has written and co-authored numerous books and articles on women's health and related topics. In 1993, she was given the World Health Organization Sasakawa Award for her work in health development.
Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, Inc., 591 U.S. ___ (2020), also known as AOSI II, was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that compelled speech required as a condition for funding on foreign non-governmental affiliates of U.S. non-government organizations does not violate First Amendment rights.