Source: Global Health Strategies (New York)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 28 May 2013 — Today, more than 4,000 global leaders and advocates from nearly 150 countries gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for Women Deliver 2013, the largest conference of the decade focused on the health and wellbeing of girls and women.
Source: Guttmacher Institute
Each year, an estimated 287,000 women worldwide die from pregnancy-related causes, and approximately three million newborns do not survive past the first 28 days of life. The majority of these deaths occur in developing countries at or around the time of delivery, and result from treatable conditions that could be prevented with adequate care.
Source: Rwanda Focus
In many countries around the world, the past decade has seen the emergence of laws and regulations to protect people, but mainly women, from sexual harassment. This has proven an efficient tool against all kinds of unwelcome advances, be it sexual innuendos by men, groping or stalking - whether at work or in other aspects of public life.
Source: Namibian
WHILE Namibia has put in place a strong legal framework to address the various forms of gender-based violence and sexual exploitation, ineffective implementation prevents Namibian women from enjoying their rights to life, security of person and bodily integrity, a United Nations report on 'Extreme Poverty and Human Rights' in Namibia has found.
Source: The News
The Kokoyah Millennium Village Project (KMVP) under the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Rural Women Welfare Committee (RUWECO) has graduated the first batch of 50 Community Beneficiaries in U-Lah and New Town Boisen in Kokoya, Bong County.
Source: Daily Observer
The Ministry of Heath and Social Welfare, in partnership with Unicef and the World Health Organisation (WHO), recently organised a day's sensitisation forum for lady councillors and chiefs in the Lower River Region on the nation-wide polio immunisation campaign.
Source: The Herald
WOMEN are pillars of family institution in African societies and play a critical role in social and economic development of their nations, the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe has said. She was speaking at the Musha Mukadzi Zimbabwe Armed Forces Foundation Invitational Golf Dinner in Harare last Friday.
With casualties in the long-running conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) now surpassing every conflict since World War II, U.S. policymakers and advocates are stepping up campaigns to raise awareness and push legislation aimed at encouraging new negotiations, assisting in government reforms, and pressuring the neighbouring countries that have propped up the DRC’s government.
Compared to men, women are frequently disadvantaged in their access to and control over forest resources and in their ability to take advantage of economic opportunities, according to an FAO paper that calls for action on gender disparities in the forestry sector.
Source: Daily News
The Women’s Parliament calls on the presidency and government to promote higher levels of participation of women in government decision-making. The presidency and government are not doing enough to empower women and make them a part of the decision-making process, said the Women’s Parliament in a statement issued on Sunday.
This chapter is from a book “Ending Violence against Women: A Challenge for Development,” the book was written by Francine Pickup with Suzanne Williams and Caroline Sweetman and published by Oxfam GB.
The head of Egypt's National Council for Women Mervat al-Tallawy met Wednesday with members of a new special unit of female police officers formed by the Interior Ministry to combat violence against women.
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, will launch two new initiatives to increase access to family planning and improve maternal health in some of the most-hard-to-reach areas around the world, including post-conflict and post-disaster countries.
Source: Health-e
Hardly a day goes by without a news story on some violation of women's rights. In recent months, appalling incidents of violence against women and girls, from Delhi to Johannesburg to Cleveland, have sparked public outrage and demands to tackle these horrific abuses.
Source: The News
Last week, Liberia joined the world to celebrate the first International Day to End Obstetric fistula with the Executive Director of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) revealing that more than 50,000 new cases of fistula develop each year.
Source: Cameroon Tribune
Less privileged rural women and youths in Ngoketungia Division of the North West Region as well as victims of the September 2012 floods in Babessi, the Ndop Women Empowerment Centre and Pa Mati's Mental Health Centre jumped for joy on May 25, 2013 with gifts of hope and encouragement from the Circle of Friends of Cameroon (CERAC) and its founding President and First Lady of Cameroon, Mrs Chantal Biya.
Source: This Day
The former Vice President for Africa, World Bank, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, has called on governments in Nigeria and other African countries to make more provision for women to occupy political positions. According to her, having more women in power would reduce corruption and increase accountability.
Source: VOA
The end of Moammar Gadhafi's 40-year rule in 2011 was a watershed moment for women, said a new report from Human Rights Watch. Women's rights are at contention as the country begins to draft a new constitution following four decades of dictatorship.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Libyan authorities should seize a historic opportunity to promote and protect women's rights as the country transitions from four decades of dictatorship, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
Source: Times of Zambia
MANY, if not most, readers are familiar with malaria. It is one of those diseases the general populace takes for granted, not least of all because it is a disease of antiquity.
The day is long past when malaria took the light of day out of many Zambians to a point where it is slowly but surely becoming a neglected,