Little support, no justice for Mali rape survivors GAO/BAMAKO, May 2013 (IRIN) - During the rebel takeover of northern Mali in April 2012, many women said they were subjected to rape or sexual assault. Since then, little or no support has come through for these women, say aid workers. Aminata Touré* was on her way to her uncle’s house in the city of Gao in June 2012 when she was stopped by two men on a motorbike. “I had no choice. They were armed and threatened to kill me,” she … [Read more...]
CONGO – Indigenous ‘pygmies’ excluded from maternal health
March 5, 2013 by
BRAZZAVILLE, March 2013 (IRIN) - Indigenous Women in the Republic of Congo, better known as 'pygmies' - a minority group threatened with extinction - are virtually excluded from reproductive health services. They mostly give birth at home and are exposed to related health risks, according to a 2012 study conducted by the Ministry of Health with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). The study, Determinants of the Use of Reproductive Health Services by Indigenous Peoples, was … [Read more...]
SRI LANKA: WFP eyes cash/voucher expansion
December 22, 2012 by
JAFFNA, December 2012 (IRIN) - The World Food Programme (WFP) hopes to expand its ongoing cash/voucher (C/V) programme across northern Sri Lanka, allowing thousands of recent returnees to diversify their diets. “More than 15,000 men, women and children have so far benefited from the programme in Jaffna,” Mads Lofvall, WFP acting country representative, told IRIN. “With the expansion we hope to reach more than the currently planned beneficiary caseload - 45,000 over the next two … [Read more...]
MADAGASCAR: Traditional midwives back in fashion
December 13, 2012 by
BETRAKA, December 2012 (IRIN) - Madagascar’s traditional midwives, or ‘matronnes’, are often thought to undermine safe childbirth practices, delivering babies in unsanitary environments and without provisions to manage complications. Yet they are now being recruited to a campaign to get women to deliver in clinics or hospitals, part of a move to lower maternal and newborn death rates. “We have more work than ever,” said matronnes Bertine, 52, and Marnette, 51. The women, who are cousins, … [Read more...]
UGANDA: Family planning pledges need on-the-ground action
October 4, 2012 by
KAMPALA, October 2012 (IRIN) - Family planning advocates in Uganda have scored some major financial and policy wins this year, but experts remain concerned that inadequate political commitment and poor health services will continue to impede women’s and girls’ access to contraceptives. At a global family planning summit in July, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni announced that his government would increase its annual expenditure on family planning supplies from US$3.3million to $5million for … [Read more...]
YEMEN: Women die as violence impedes antenatal care in Abyan
August 25, 2012 by
TAKE ACTION !!! ABYAN, 24 August 2012 (IRIN) - In June, after spending 11 months in a makeshift camp for people displaced by violence, 19-year-old Dawlah Muslih, then seven months pregnant, returned to her home in an area of Yemen where safety was supposed to have improved. It was a move her family would come to regret. Two months ago, the government announced that the militant group Ansar al-Sharia had been routed from the southern Abyan Governorate by a large-scale military offensive. … [Read more...]
SOUTH SUDAN: The biggest threat to a woman’s life
July 26, 2012 by
JUBA, 20 July 2012 (IRIN) - South Sudan has the worst reported maternal mortality rate in the world. “More women die in child birth, per capita, in South Sudan, than in any country in the world,” says Caroline Delany, a health specialist with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in South Sudan which is funding a raft of maternal health programmes. A 2012 report entitled Women’s Security in South Sudan: Threats in the Home by Geneva-based think-tank Small Arms Survey (SAS) … [Read more...]
FGM: New Research Highlights Link between FGM/C and Mental Disorders
July 15, 2012 by
FGM: Female Genital Mutilation and other Harmful Practices Female Genital Mutilation may Cause Mental Health Problems This pilot study investigated the mental health of women following genital mutilation. A number of experts have in the past assumed that women undergoing genital mutilation would be more likely to develop psychiatric illnesses than women in the general population but there has been little research to confirm this belief. Health Consequences of Female Genital … [Read more...]
