India mass sterilization: women were ‘forced’ into camps .. Brother-in-law of one victim says women were ‘herded like cattle’ after 12 die and scores injured following botched operations Relatives of the 12 women who died after a state-run mass sterilization campaign in India went horribly wrong have told local media they were forced by health workers to attend the camp. More than 80 women underwent surgery for laparoscopic tubectomies at a free government-run camp in the central … [Read more...]
Why 2014 is a key year for women’s rights!
Why 2014 is a key year for women's rights and gender equality Help us create a global platform for discussion that amplifies the voices of women's rights advocates around the world Volunteers at a sexual harassment and counselling group in Susiya, a bedouin village in the West Bank. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian Over the past few decades, the often tireless work of the women's movement around the world has brought positive change. There has been a growing recognition … [Read more...]
Less than 1,000 Days to achieve the MDGs – Take Action!
With 1,000 Days to achieve the MDGs, efforts have to accelerate action and scale up what works – with contributions from Governments, the international community, civil society and the private sector. Focusing on reducing inequalities on many fronts – such as improving food security, maternal health, water and sanitation, rural development, environmental sustainability and responses to climate change – is critical at this juncture. Evidence shows that Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment … [Read more...]
Ban Ki-Moon speaks with Malala!
As of 5 April, only 1,000 days remain until the end of the 2015 target date for achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The eight MDGs – which range from halving extreme poverty to promoting gender equality to providing universal primary education by the target date of 2015 – form an internationally agreed blueprint which countries and leading development institutions have signed onto. Since their adoption in 2000, the MDGs have made a huge difference, helping to set global and … [Read more...]
CONGO – Indigenous ‘pygmies’ excluded from maternal health
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...]
CSW – Violence Against Women, Sexual, Reproductive Health
CSW 2012 The fifty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women took place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 27 February to 9 March 2012. The closing meeting was held on 15 March 2012. The 2012 session focused on the following key areas: Priority Theme: The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges Review Theme: Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women Emerging … [Read more...]
Contraception in Tajikistan: Poverty, Religion and Mothers-in-law
KHOVALING, Tajikistan --- “Things were different in my day,” says 70-year-old Tojigul Qurbonova, a mother of ten. “Mothers with a lot of children were showered with benefits and had a good life,” she adds, showing off a ‘Mother Hero’ certificate she was awarded in 1980. In those days, under the Soviet Union, big families were encouraged and supported. Mothers with more than five children were awarded gold medals, apartments, telephones, and received financial help in the form of child … [Read more...]
870 million chronically undernourished – new hunger report
October 2012, Rome - Nearly 870 million people, or one in eight, were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2010-2012, according to the new UN hunger report released today. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012 (SOFI), jointly published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP), presents better estimates of chronic undernourishment based on an improved methodology and data for … [Read more...]
ZAMBIA, actions to meet the Millennium Development Goals
Identifying good practices that lead to greater equity in reproductive health The UN agencies known as the H4+ support priority countries that take concerted actions to meet the Millennium Development Goals on maternal and child health. UNFPA has identified Zambia as one such country. The following feature shows some of the "Good Practices" the country has undertaken to expand access to reproductive health. When Mabvuto Zulu returned to Zambia after studying medicine in Cuba, he worked … [Read more...]
ZA’ATARI REFUGEE CAMP, Mafraq, Jordan – Clinic with female gynecologist
ZA'ATARI REFUGEE CAMP, Mafraq, Jordan — As a way to address both health needs and cultural sensitivities, UNFPA is supporting a reproductive health clinic with a female gynecologist in the Za'atari camp for Syrian refugees who have fled to Jordan. Some 27,000 Syrian refugees are now living in the camp. Many are women who feel more at ease in seeing a female doctor, especially when dealing with reproductive health issues. Buthaina, for instance, was in her ninth month of pregnancy when … [Read more...]
Ethiopian Fistula Surgeons Train Physicians in Mozambique, Women’s Maternal Health
BEIRA, Mozambique — Following a successful fistula repair surgery, 25-year-old Esther Joakim Chimoio envisions a better life. Although her husband abandoned her because of her condition, she now has ambitious plans that will allow her to take care of her children on her own. "I want to go back and start my own banana and orange business to support my children. Before I was working in the fields for a woman in my area due to my limited strength because of fistula," she says, beaming. Esther … [Read more...]
UNFPA 2011 Maternal Health Highlights
MATERNAL HEALTH 2011 - HIGHLIGHTS It was a busy, successful year for UNFPA, UN Population Fund, as it continued to work in 2011 with partners to address universal access to reproductive health, including maternal health, treatment for obstetric fistula and family planning, and to improve the lives of women and young people around the world. A special emphasis was made on the important work of midwives and the crucial role they play in saving lives and bettering maternal … [Read more...]
Irina Bokova ~ 6,000,000 Teachers needed to achieve MDGs
6,000,000 Teachers needed to Achieve World Primary Education Goals Seeking a Career, Take Action NOW !!! 5 October 2011 – The United Nations marked World Teachers’ Day today with a warning that 6.1 million more teachers are needed to meet the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of attaining universal primary education by 2015. Two million of these are additional posts, with sub-Saharan Africa alone accounting for more than half. But the … [Read more...]
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – Education Key to Achievement
World leaders and experts meet to raise the profile of education on the development agenda. NEW YORK, September 2010 – A brainstorming session to examine ways to make the case for education by showing its powerful impact on all Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be held on 22 September, as world leaders gather in New York to review progress on the MDGs. A special focus on education is critical, according to the organizers of the session, Save the Children, Qatar, UNESCO and UNICEF. … [Read more...]