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News/Event Item
IPPF Welcomes New Director-General Designate
19 November 2001
IPPF Press Release
Dr. Steven W. Sinding was presented on Saturday, 17 November, as the new Director-General Designate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). Dr. Sinding is a distinguished professional in the population and sexual and reproductive health field, currently Professor with the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York, conducting academic research and teaching.
From 1991 to 1999, Dr. Sinding served as Director of the Population Sciences programme at the Rockefeller Foundation. The Foundation supported a $17 million annual programme of grants for social science and biomedical research and international policy work to mobilize additional resources for population and reproductive health programmes in developing countries.
From 1990 to 1991, Dr. Sinding was also the World Bank?s senior population advisor.
Dr. Sinding has had extensive international programme experience. He lived in Pakistan between 1975-1978 as the Population Officer for the USAID mission. After returning to the United States, he became the head of the Population, Health and Nutrition Office in the Asia Bureau of USAID where he developed the agency?s first comprehensive population strategy for the Region.
Following this, Dr. Sinding lived in the Philippines as Chief of the Population, Health and Nutrition Division of USAID, and later he became USAID worldwide Director of the Office of Population. In 1986, he was transferred to Kenya where he worked as Mission Director for four years.
Over the years, Dr Sinding has visited more than 70 countries, including about 20 in Africa and nearly all countries in Asia, and has worked in many of them for short periods of time.
Dr. Sinding has written extensively on international population issues and is called upon frequently to lecture to both academic and general audiences on international population issues. He serves on the boards of directors of several organizations active in the population and reproductive health fields.
Dr. Sinding has a longstanding interest in U.S. international development policy and was co-sponsor and co-author of the Overseas Development Council?s white papers, Re-Inventing Foreign Aid in 1992, and What Future for Aid? in 1996.
"It is my privilege and pleasure to present Dr. Steven W. Sinding as the finalist candidate and the unanimous and enthusiastic choice of the IPPF Governing Council Search Committee," said Mrs. Angela Gomez, IPPF?s President, speaking at the meeting of IPPF?s Governing Council, the Federation?s chief decision-making body which meets twice a year.
Dr. Sinding will honour teaching commitments until the end of summer 2002, after which he will take up full-time service with IPPF in London. Current Director-General Ingar Brueggemann?s term of office comes to an end on 31 August 2002. She joined IPPF as Secretary-General (now Director-General) in September 1995. "IPPF has taken great strides in the last 50 years and it has made a difference in millions of lives. But I am aware of the challenges which remain, and I welcome Dr. Sinding on board a committed Federation and extend my warmest wishes for his work ahead," Mrs Brueggemann said.
Dr. Sinding expresses deep concern about meeting global sexual and reproductive needs, and is unequivocal about the crucial responsibility he will take on as IPPF?s Director-General.
"Despite its technological sophistication, because of deep inequities, the 21st century still has to grapple with unacceptable reproductive health realities," he says.
"Every year nearly 80 million unintended pregnancies occur worldwide, and every minute, one woman dies of pregnancy-related complications, many of these are adolescents. Last year, 4.7 million adults around the world became infected with HIV and another 2.5 million died of AIDS. World population is set to grow by 50 percent in the next 50 years -- a rise of more than 3 billion people -- and half the world currently exists on less than $2 a day.
"IPPF is giving me the opportunity to focus my life?s experience in advocacy, resource mobilisation and research on addressing these staggering needs through the Federation?s network in more than 180 countries. I welcome this opportunity and will give of my utmost to this end."
For the Press Release, go to:
http://www.ippf.org/
category: Member Organization News : Announcements
contributed by Andrea Welch on 21 November 2001
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