Gates blog series on World Contraception Day

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog continues its series, published in partnership with Women Deliver, to recognize World Contraception Day, observed annually on September 26. The following pieces were published recently:

• The Power of the Internet: Alan Deivid Figueroa Frias, CIES associate director at Young Alternate Board IPPF/WHR, writes, "Moving forward, we can use the internet to collaborate and form partnerships in order to make great strides for young people and their sexual and reproductive health and rights" (9/20).
• Stumbling Blocks to Contraceptive Services: Maureen Oduor, a development specialist and adolescents sexual reproductive health coordinator with the African Peace Ambassadors Tanzania (APAT), says "safe spaces where young people can express themselves and access reproductive health education must be established"; governments and policymakers should be involved in facilitating reproductive services for youth; and men and boys should be included in family planning programs (9/20).
• Educating Young People About Their Health and Rights: Gonzalo Infante Grandon, a student of public health at La Frontera University, discusses the barriers young people in Latin America and the Caribbean face in accessing family planning and reproductive health services (9/19).
• Crossing the Borders of Tradition and Religion: Shibilu Shamsudeen, a medical graduate currently living in the United Arab Emirates, writes, "Education and information is the key to progress. Providing information that is freely available is the best way to empower youth about making responsible decisions because we all want a world where every pregnancy is wanted" (9/19).