Latin America’s teenage girls are a crucial force for change and for promoting sustainable development, if the region invests in their rights and the correction of unequal opportunities, according to Luiza Carvalho, the regional head of UN Women. “An empowered adolescent will know her rights and ... MORE > >

Four years ago, Farzana Aktar Ruma, now 18, was almost married off without her consent. Her parents had settled on someone they considered a reasonably wealthy young man with a good family background, and did not want to miss the opportunity to wed their eldest daughter. Farzana’s father, ... MORE > >

In plain and simple language, an Argentine video aimed at teenagers explains how to get sexual pleasure while being careful. Its freedom from taboos is very necessary in Latin American countries where one in five girls becomes a mother by the time she is 19 years old. “For good sex to happen, ... MORE > >

Voahevetse Fotetse can easily pass for a three-year-old even though he is six and a pupil at Ankilimafaitsy Primary School in Ambovombe district, Androy region, one of the most severely affected by the ongoing drought in the South of Madagascar. “Fotetse is just like many of the pupils here who, ... MORE > >

From forced sterilisation to sexual abuse, young women and men with disabilities are much more likely to have their sexual and reproductive health rights violated than other people. However despite the increased risks they face, young people with disabilities are also much less likely to get ... MORE > >

The declaration that will be presented for approval at the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in October has again sparked conflict between the opposing positions taken by the industrial North and the developing South. The aim of the ... MORE > >

Patience*, a Ugandan maid, planned on taking her three-year-old son for polio immunization during the country’s mass campaigns a year ago, until her landlord’s wife told her a shocking myth. “The medicine they are injecting them with means the boy when he’s an adult won’t be able to reproduce,” ... MORE > >

Millions of children still die before reaching their fifth birthday every year, according to the 2016 State of The World’s Children Report released here Tuesday by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). The report, which is released annually, shows that a country’s income does not always determine ... MORE > >

Despite their contribution to social justice, civil society organisations came under “serious attack” in 109 countries in 2015, according to a new report published by CIVICUS Monday. “Civil society freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly have been under serious attack in ... MORE > >