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Tuesday, June 30, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
Women's Health
DEVELOPMENT-INDIA: Women Hold Key to Accepting Indoor Toilets
Like other women in this largely tribal, central Indian state, Draupati Bhosale was averse to the idea of having toilets built within homes, but went along because the government was building them at heavily subsidised costs. ‘’I thought it would give me extra storage space,’’ she said.
Q&A: "Drug Addicts Are Victims, Not Criminals"
This week, Stephen Lewis, the outspoken former U.N. special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, was invested as Knight Commander of the Most Dignified Order of Moshoeshoe - a knighthood which is Lesotho's highest honour.DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Legalise Therapeutic Abortion, Say NGOs
A proposal by a coalition of civil society groups to make therapeutic abortion legal in the Dominican Republic has prompted heavy pressure on Congress from the Catholic Church.BRAZIL: Controversial Bill to Sterilise Younger Women
A draft law to reduce the minimum age for women to undergo voluntary sterilisation in Brazil’s public hospitals from 25 to 18 is vigorously opposed by the government.HEALTH-ASIA: HIV, AIDS Take on A Woman's Face
The feminisation of HIV and AIDS continues in full swing in the Asia-Pacific, reflected in the fact that almost 40 percent of new HIV cases are among women, even if the newest estimates show that there are fewer people than originally estimated to be living with the virus in the region.
HEALTH-ASIA: When Hearth Is No Longer Her Home
To Princey Mangalika from Sri Lanka, AIDS has come to mean hatred, hunger, humiliation and death.
SIERRA LEONE: A Women's Issue That Women Are Wary of Campaigning About
Female genital mutilation (FGM) can make sex painful, complicate childbirth, lead to urinary tract infections, enable the transmission of HIV - and induce a host of other ills. So, promising to fight this practice should be a winning strategy for someone hoping to be elected to parliament this Saturday in Sierra Leone - where about 90 percent of girls and women undergo FGM, according to rights watchdog Amnesty International.
Q&A: "In Sierra Leone They Just Cut You, And There's Not Much Problem With That"
Certain comments resonate long after they are made, and Shirley Yeama Gbujama's reported threat to "sew up the mouths of those preaching against Bondo" is certainly one of them.
RIGHTS-KENYA: A Moment of Joy Turned to Ashes
Josephine, young and pregnant, had just felt her water break. She arrived at the doors of St. Mary's Hospital in Langata, Kenya ready to give birth to her first child. But the throbbing pain of delivery was just the start of her troubles.PORTUGAL: Epidemic of Conscientious Objection to Performing Abortion
Pleading "conscientious objection," a significant proportion of doctors in Portugal are preventing women from making use of the law authorising abortions up to 10 weeks of gestation, which entered into force on Sunday.DEVELOPMENT-TANZANIA: More Women Dying Preventable Deaths
"I began walking when I felt contractions. I delivered on the roadside five kilometres from the hospital," says the 22-year-old Veronica Joseph.CORRUPTION: World Bank Debars Indian Firms in Fraud Probe
The World Bank ended a several-year investigation Monday by debarring two Indian pharmaceutical companies, citing corrupt procurement practices in a controversial Bank-funded reproductive health programme.
WORLD POPULATION DAY: U.S. Funding Continues to Stumble
As the United Nations commemorated World Population Day Wednesday, the United States remains the only major donor that continues to cut off funds to the only international agency focusing primarily on population: the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA).
WORLD POPULATION DAY: Enlightened Men Prescribed for Maternal Health
What is a common factor in ensuring that women do not marry too young, do not have more children than they can cope with, do not die giving birth - and contract HIV in smaller numbers? Men.
Q&A: Science Ignores AIDS in Women, Says Nobel Nominee
Science has yet to provide rigorous studies of how HIV/AIDS or the impacts of antiretroviral medications affect women's bodies in particular, Argentine activist Patricia Pérez, nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, told Tierramérica.FINANCE: Development Banks Lag on Sexual Health – Report
Despite strong verbal commitments to reproductive and sexual health, the so-called multilateral development banks (MDBs) that lend to poor nations have spent relatively little money on such projects and, in some cases, have followed policies on the ground that in fact impeded women's empowerment and improved public health, a new study charges.SOUTH AFRICA: "You Cannot Keep People Away From Settling in Cities"
Population issues are in the spotlight at present with the recent release of the United Nations Population Fund's annual report - and World Population Day, to be commemorated Jul. 11.ROMANIA: Cannes Award Brings Back Memories
A Romanian triumph at the Cannes film festival this year has revived painful memories for thousands of women.HEALTH: Commonwealth Event Debates Why AIDS Wears “the Face of a Woman”
The issue of women continuing to be at higher risk of HIV infection than men has received considerable attention at a gathering of women's affairs ministers from Commonwealth countries underway in Uganda's capital, Kampala.Q&A: “I Said to Myself, Why Not Create an NGO Focused on the Dignity of Women?”
Later this year, Salamatou Traoré - a leading health worker in Niger - will be awarded a five thousand dollar grant from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in recognition of her work to assist women who suffer from fistulas. She is one of three persons being honoured by the agency for their efforts to uplift women.BOLIVIA: Safe Abortion Nearly Impossible Even in Cases of Rape
Bolivia's constituent assembly has just two months left to finishing rewriting the country's constitution. In 10 months of sessions, it has approved a single article, regarding the right to hold football matches at high altitudes, in response to the International Football Federation's (FIFA) ban on high-altitude international matches.« Previous Page — Next Page »
Worldwide, women’s health is a serious issue. The result of a wide diversity of factors, most notably insufficient access to education, women’s health issues must be addressed. Without access to proper schooling, many girls grow up without the necessary understanding of reproductive health. Due to this, reproductive issues and sexually transmitted infections plague women in developing countries. Women struggle to battle infections such as HIV. The lack of relevant services, coupled with the lack of women’s rights pertaining to their own health, are some of the serious issues that these stories seek to explain.
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