March 2012 - Until 2009, available data showed Afghanistan as a country with a low HIV prevalence rate. However, research conducted in Kabul, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif in 2009 showed an average HIV prevalence of 7.1 per cent among people who inject drugs. Of one million drug users, 110,000 of whom are female, only 10 per cent have access to treatment services. Drug use is a problem across the globe. luckily, in the United States, we have access to drug tests using urine that make it impossible to … [Read more...]
Avaaz.org – Stop rape and murder for profit
March 25, 2012 by
When security forces of a Canadian mining company brutally evicted Mayan families from their villages in Guatemala, eleven women were raped, a community leader was killed, and a young man paralyzed. Now villagers are standing up and suing HudBay Minerals, but they need our help to match the legal firepower of this huge corporation -- donate nowand help end the mining murders for good: When security forces of a Canadian mining company brutally evicted Mayan families from their … [Read more...]
Impasse at Commission on Status of Women – Taking Action at grassroots is required
March 17, 2012 by
Impasse at Commission on Status of Women “deeply regrettable” UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet comments on the ending of the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women without agreed conclusions. During this 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, we have witnessed passionate and dynamic discussion with a very high level of participation from governments and civil society. Unfortunately we have also witnessed an inability to reach … [Read more...]
Women farmers worldwide need support – Take Action!
March 15, 2012 by
Women face widespread restrictions with their ability to buy, sell or inherit land, open a savings account, borrow money or sell their crops at market. They also are more likely than men to lack access to rudimentary basics of farming such as fertilizers, water, tillers, transportation, improved crop and animal varieties, and extension services. (..) “The global sidelining of women farmers puts our food security at great risk,” said Mark Holderness, Executive Secretary for the Global Forum on … [Read more...]
AFGHANISTAN, Elimination of Violence against Women in Afghanistan
March 10, 2012 by
On International Women’s Day UN Calls for Full and Speedy Implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women in Afghanistan Kabul — On International Women’s Day, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and UN Women urged the Government of Afghanistan to fully and promptly implement the law on Elimination of Violence against Women. “As long as women and girls in Afghanistan are subject to violence with impunity, little meaningful and sustainable … [Read more...]
Ethiopia by Task-Shifting Procedures, Saving Women’s Lives
March 2, 2012 by
Finding ways to deliver for women where doctors are in short supply TIGRAY REGION, Ethiopia — “We are all looking to you to be a window of hope to reduce the unnecessary death of mothers and newborns during pregnancy and delivery in rural Ethiopia,” said Dr.Tedros Adhanom, the Minister of Health, as he handed over degrees to the first graduates at Ayder Hospital of his country’s programme in Integrated Emergency Surgery and Obstetrics. The first graduating class of the new … [Read more...]
US Aims to Empower World’s Women Farmers
March 2, 2012 by
U.S. aid officials are launching a new way to measure whether their efforts to empower women farmers are working. Women make up nearly half the agricultural workforce in sub-Saharan Africa and East and Southeast Asia, but women’s farm production tends to lag behind their male counterparts. Women face a number of obstacles that men do not. They tend to own less land and have fewer rights to that land. They have less access to credit and training. And they have less input in … [Read more...]
UNFPA, Launch of First-Ever Global Map of Devastating Childbirth Injury
March 1, 2012 by
Launch of First-Ever Global Map of Devastating Childbirth Injury SANTA BARBARA, CA/ SAN JOSE, CA/ UNITED NATIONS, New York—The largest and most comprehensive map of available services for women living with obstetric fistula was launched today by Direct Relief International, the Fistula Foundation, and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. The release of the Global Fistula Map, a major step forward in understanding the landscape of worldwide treatment capacity for … [Read more...]
