Blog

Angelina Jolie’s recent op-ed about her brave decision to undergo a double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer hit home on many levels. The decision to pursue such a life-saving and, yes, invasive procedure is not one taken lightly.

Heran Abebe is a Senior Gender Advisor for Pathfinder’s Integrated Family Health Program (IFHP) in Ethiopia. In this Q&A Heran shares her thoughts on why gender is important in Ethiopia, how she was first drawn to gender work, and IFHP’s exciting gender initiatives on the horizon.

As part of the Integrated Family Health Program, led by Pathfinder International and funded by USAID, Masreshah and her fellow health extension workers provide sexual and reproductive health information and services to more than 1,700 households. While visiting with these families, Masreshah collects data, which she reviews during weekly meetings with her district supervisor.

In the 1990s, only 3 percent of married women in Ethiopia used a modern method of contraception. Today, 30 percent do. Dr. Mengistu Asnak explains the "what" and "how" of Ethiopia's family planning success.

Pathfinder's Linda Suttenfield shares a first-hand account of her journey to Ethiopia, where she met Aminaa, a local health worker who is helping her community overcome barriers that prevent family planning and reproductive health care.

In a remote, but densely populated village in Ethiopia, Masreshah Abebe strives to improve the reproductive health of her community through the monitoring and evaluation of data.