Heifer International

Heifer International, founded in 1994 by Dan West, describes itself as being “on a mission to end hunger and poverty in a sustainable way by supporting and investing alongside local farmers and their communities.” Unfortunately, our research shows that Heifer International has a history of promoting unspecified methods of “family planning” for contraceptive purposes and also funds and works with organizations committed to the spread of all forms of contraception and abortion.

Contraceptive Family Planning Training

In 2012, Heifer recruited blogger Betty Londergan to “visit 12 countries in 12 months” and “meet the people who are benefiting from the animals Heifer gives to those in need, learn about the Heifer programs and trainings that go on for months” Her subsequent blog entries betray support for contraceptives and a personal vindictiveness toward Catholic teaching, despite Londergan’s self-professed Catholicism.

For example, In a March 9th, 2012 blog post titled “A Mother in Haiti“, Londergan laments the fact that Catholics make up 80% of the population in Haiti, and therefore do not use contraceptives:

“Then I thought about all the women across Haiti, trying to make a life for themselves and their children. If only they were able to practice birth control (80% of Haitians are Catholic – like me — so yeah, thanks, Pope Benedict, for the holy ban on contraceptives in this country the size of Vermont that has more than 10 times Vermont’s population.)”

In the comments section of the same blog post, Londergan defends her position on the use of contraceptives:

“I was raised a Catholic and still practice my religion, but I have to say, I feel as if it’s a big disservice to women around the world to discourage birth control, and call it a sin. Just the use of condoms alone in Haiti (which has an infection rate of 1 in 50) is a matter of life and death … and should be condoned and encouraged by any humanitarian organization, in my opinion. Plus, I also think that counting on men to participate willingly in the birth control process is always a tricky, unreliable system … and puts the pressure on the woman to convince the man to abstain in fertile periods.”

According to later posts and comments from Londergan, Heifer itself promotes “family planning” to limit family sizes. In an October 25th, 2012 blog post titled “Under water but not overcome“, Londergan documents a Cambodian family of ten. In the comments section of said blog post, she is asked if the family’s “life might have been easier if they hadn’t had 8 children.” and “Is family planning help available?”, to which Londergan replies affirmatively:

“Absolutely I think their life would have been easier if they hadn’t had 8 children — but as one of 8 children myself (and 6th in the lineup) I’m thinking – what would life be like without those later kids?? I’m only half-kidding, Martha, and YES there is a lot of emphasis in Heifer in Vietnam and Cambodia to talk about family planning and controlling your own reproduction.”

In the comments section of a December 6th, 2012 blog post titled “A good/bad day in Malawi”, Londergan is asked “is there something more Heifer (or someone) could be doing to encourage birth control?!”, to which she confirms Heifer’s involvement in the promotion of family planning, stating, “Heifer DOES encourage people to practice family planning both in its gender equity series and family health series of trainings.”

Heifer itself confirmed carrying out training in family planning for the purpose of limiting family size. A 2011 article titled “Ugandan Family Moves From IDP Camp to Self-Reliance” details the story of Fred and Florence Otem, a married couple in Uganda who mention Heifer Project International’s “family planning” trainings:

“He is an understanding, loving and caring husband. He will never make decisions without involving us as a family, and with trainings received from Heifer Project International on family planning, we resolved to only have three children and provide for them up to university level. We currently opened up a joint savings account as a family, an indication of unity.”

Heifer International Funding Practices

Restless Development

Heifer International works with “implementing partner” Restless Development in Zambia. Restless Development also lists Heifer International as a “Donor Partner” in its 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 (most recent) annual reports. These reports show that donations from “Partner Non-Government Organisations” make up between 15% to 45% of Restless Developments’ total income in any given year.

Restless Development is in partnership with Heifer International to implement the “Vubwi Epicenter” in Zambia, as well as Heifer’s own project, the “East Africa Youth Inclusion Program” (EAYIP). According to Restless Development, both programs include training and mentorship for young people.

The problem is that Restless Development has as an organizational goal the education of young Zambians about sexual and reproductive health including contraception and abortion. According to Restless Development’s “Zambia Strategic Plan 2022 – 2030,” Zambian youth lack awareness of their sexual reproductive health and rights, including abortion, due to “cultural and religious norms.” The document states:

Access to SRHR information and services continues to be challenging for young people due to socio-cultural barriers that limit their access to information and guidance about making positive decisions about their sexual health. SRHR education remains exclusionary – especially in rural areas, with cultural and religious norms being cited as reasons why relevant information is not shared with adolescents, including by parents. These are reasons why, for instance, half of young people are not aware that abortion if the pregnancy affects the health of the mother is legal under Zambian law. As a result, most young people turn to unconventional or home-based methods. Of maternal deaths in adolescence, 75% are attributable to unsafe abortion. [emphasis added]

Also in the same document, under a subsection titled “Our Theory of Change,” Restless Development lists SRHR among other goals as leading to a “Zambia where young people meaningfully participate in development for social and economic transformation can be achieved.” Another subsection titled “Our Strategic Priorities” lists SRHR as a top priority and states:

‘Our objective is to empower young people to advocate for supportive and inclusive services and policies to advance and uphold sexual and reproductive health and services and rights. We Encourage young people – especially young women and girls to take control and obtain menstrual and hygiene products, and demonstrate safe sexual practices. We raise awareness with young people of their rights and embolden them to exercise their voice and advocate for supportive and inclusive services and policies. We also work with community leaders and teachers to train them in Comprehensive Sexual Education to ensure young people continue to learn about safe practices, how to access services, and to understand their rights.”

Restless Development has released a document specifically for use in Zambia, titled “Know Your Reproductive Rights Toolkit“. This document features a comic-book style story that encourages the use of contraceptives and “safe” abortion and complains about the “stigma” culture and religion have attached to abortion.

A quote from the “From the Director” section of the document states:

“Through this toolkit we are sharing, in a youth-friendly manner, information on the law and policy governing legal and safe abortion in Zambia; the parameters around its access, the provisions under it and any other information around it that is useful for young people.
We recognize that a critical point of our alliance is to ensure that every young person has access to SRHR information and provisions as stipulated in the ESA commitment. Information on access to legal and safe abortion for young people is a very important factor under what is meant to be provided to young people under this commitment.” [emphasis added]

This is only a fraction of the gravely immoral things promoted and done by Restless Development as we have limited the scope of our investigation to its activities congruent with Heifer International in Zambia.

Youth Alive Uganda

Heifer International works with implementing partner Youth Alive Uganda (YAU) in Uganda.

Youth Alive Uganda’s “Our Story” page states that it was founded in 1993 by a group of youth under the guidance of Sr. Dr. Miriam Duggan in Kamwokya, a Kampala suburb which was severely affected by HIV&AIDS and currently works in 75 districts of Uganda.

One of YAU’s five “strategic priorities” is “Improved Sexual and Reproductive Health of Children and Youth in Uganda.”

YAU’s dedicated page to Sexual and Reproductive Health states:

“Youth Alive Uganda aims at increasing access to Sexual Reproductive Health information and services for the youth through provision of age appropriate , integrated, and youth responsive SRH information and services that include; SRH information and services, Linkages to psychosocial support, Promoting conducive and Facilitating enrolment and retention of HIV positive children, youth and their caregivers into HIV care and walking them through the journey of Viral Load suppression, We facilitate attitude and norms change at personal and community level that in turn improves uptake of health services.” [emphasis added]

YAU’s document “Youth Alive Strategic Plan III, 2021 – 2025” describes how a total of 533,799 children and youth were reached with “health interventions”, including Sexual reproductive health and rights services. It states:

“A total of 533,799 beneficiaries were reached with health interventions. Our focus was on increasing access to and utilization of youth friendly Sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and other health services including HIV services, Primary Health Care (PHC) and OVC access to core health services.”

YAU has several posts on Facebook detailing how it gave instructive training on the use of condoms and also distributed them. A post from July 10th, 2020 includes photos of condom-use training taking place, and states:

“Unmet access to Sexual Reproductive Health services and commodities should remain on the agenda as we continue to fight COVID 19. In response to the outcry, we carried out SRHR awareness sessions to adolescent girls and young women at Kawete Health Center II in Iganga district. The session covered health education, condom education and distribution and family planning. We believe this will lead to reduced risk of acquiring STIs and unplanned pregnancies among young people. In the long run, they will have more time to participate in economic and civic engagement due to good health and less burden of child bearing.” [emphasis added]

A post from June 27th, 2019 states “Today we look back to sports galas that were held last week in Masindi, Kiryandongo, Kole and Dokolo Districts under the Youth Empowerment Through Agriculture (YETA) Program. The galas offered opportunity for the youth to exhibit talent through football and net ball games. They also received a whole package of integrated health services that included; HIV testing and counselling, condom education, family planning among others.”

A post from August 27th, 2018 includes photos showing a training session on how to use condoms and their distribution. The post states “In our never dying efforts to fight sturdily against HIV/AIDS we continuously involve young people in conversations surrounding facts and myths about this scourge. While interacting with them amidst other interventions, we equip them with knowledge on proper condom usage and disposal which is in line with the ABC strategy: Abstinence, Be Faithful and C: condom use. #YAUat25Our lens captured a peer leader from Work to Succeed youth group-Kiryandongo District sharing condom education with friends.” [emphasis added]

Conclusion

Heifer Project International’s promotion of contraceptive “family planning” in its own work and its partnerships and funding of contraception and abortion supporting organizations proves it is unworthy of Catholic support. Therefore, we are marking it as Not Safe on our charity list. Please contact Heifer International and request it ceases support for the culture of death in its projects.