Eliana Dotan, Brandeis University
“Family Planning and Poverty Reduction: An Inquiry into the Efficacy of Family Planning as a Tool of Economic Development in Uganda”
Bio: Eliana Dotan is a senior at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, focusing her studies on the Program in Social Justice and Social Policy. In addition, Eliana has also completed a major in Art History and a minor in Economics. She recently spent a semester in Uganda conducting research on family planning as a tool of poverty reduction. Upon returning to the United States, Eliana was compelled to look into the same topic domestically, and is now working with her local Waltham community to design a culturally-relevant reproductive health and rights program that serves the needs of community members, as defined by them. She also teaches a citizenship course at a women’s homeless shelter in Boston, and has recently started a screen-printing business with her housemates, though they have yet to make a sale.
Abstract: In 2007, the population of Uganda was recorded at 28.4 million and was growing at a rate of 3.2%. At this pace, the population will double in less than twenty-five years. Such rapid growth has implications on both the micro- and macro- economic levels of development. High fertility affects the individual family's ability to provide basic needs and opportunities for personal development to its members. Population growth rate must be slowed in order to change the population age structure and to reap the benefits of a small window of opportunity during which the income-earning portion of the population outweighs the dependent one. This change in population structure is known as demographic dividends. This study assesses family planning as a tool of development in Uganda by evaluating service provision and advocacy vis-à-vis the micro- and macro-economic theories, as mentioned above.
