NAMIBIA: “If You Kiss for Five Minutes You Get It”

"At home we have a bar," says grade seven learner David Bravo* (14). "When my mother puts on the music I cannot concentrate on (my) schoolwork anymore. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I just sit there and watch the people."

AFRICA: Corruption Carries High Cost, World Bank Says

Poverty is on the rise in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and various forms of corruption threaten to undermine the impact of investments made to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the continent, said the World Bank in a report released Monday on Africa's development.

DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: Rapid Population Growth Threatens Development

Margaret Atieno, a 38-year-old mother of six, says she wanted to avoid her last pregnancy. But consistent stock-outs of contraceptive devices at her health care centre in rural Siaya, western Kenya, gave her no choice but to fall pregnant once again, albeit the fact that she did not want another child.

HEALTH: U.S. AIDS Fund Flat-Lining, Groups Complain

The debate between those who favour investment in AIDS treatment and those who favour investment in its prevention came to the forefront Thursday at a U.S House of Representatives hearing on U.S. investments in HIV/AIDS in Africa.

RIGHTS: Gender Confab Marked by Political Uncertainties

When a two-week meeting on gender empowerment concluded at U.N. headquarters Friday, there were several lingering questions crying out for answers.

DEVELOPMENT-CAMEROON: Are Women the Magic Bullet for “Electoral Apathy”?

A support network for women's political participation, is challenging head-on what it calls "electoral apathy", after noting a growing trend in electoral abstention.

EGYPT: Population Growth Overtakes Literacy Rise

Literacy programmes are teaching millions of Egyptians to read, but are struggling to keep up with the country's high population growth.

KENYA: Proposed Constitutional Amendment Sets Back Women’s Rights

Lillian Mutuku, a 34-year-old mother of three, describes her home in Katine area, in Kenya’s Eastern province Tala, as a harsh place to live. The soil is poor, she says, the sun beats down mercilessly and vegetation is sparse.

RIGHTS: Africa’s Success Stories in Gender Empowerment

Whenever gender empowerment is a vibrant topic of discussion internationally, some of the countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America are invariably singled out for their success stories in politics, education, health care or civil liberties even as Africa is mostly left out of political reckoning - and wrongly so.

EDUCATION-TANZANIA: Pregnant Teens Forced Out of School

Pregnancy is the leading cause of dropouts for school girls in Tanzania. And a national law forbidding young mothers to return to school after giving birth did not make it any easier for them to continue their education.

EDUCATION-URUGUAY: Gardens of Knowledge

"Nature is wise, and if we take the time to observe it, we can learn so much" is the underlying philosophy of a number of innovative programmes being carried out in Uruguayan schools that are using gardens as a teaching resource, explained Edith Moraes, director of the national Primary Education Board.

LATIN AMERICA: Abortion – Still Illegal, Still Killing, Despite Growing Awareness

Although most of the governments in Latin America today are described as progressive, abortion is only legal in one country, while in five countries it is banned under all circumstances, even when the mother's life is at risk.

RIGHTS: “Famine Marriages” Just One Byproduct of Climate Change

The negative fallout from climate change is having a devastatingly lopsided impact on women compared to men, from higher death rates during natural disasters to heavier household and care burdens.

PERU: Suspension of Mining Operation Merely a Placebo

Although the Peruvian government reported that it had suspended the exploration activities of the Afrodita mining company in the country's northern Amazon jungle region to avoid further protests by local indigenous people, officials took no actual steps to bring the firm's work to a halt.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY: ‘We Will Demonstrate, As They Celebrate’

‘Equal rights; equal opportunities’ may be the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, but while women around the world celebrate, a group of Ugandan women are protesting against the suppression of their rights.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Five Years to Children Born Free of HIV

A world where all children are born free of HIV infection is possible in only five years if donors continue to fund global efforts to combat the virus.

TRINIDAD: Women Demand a Real Gender Policy

A few days after she created history by becoming the first woman to be elected as opposition leader and the leader of a major political party in Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad Bissessar was kicking mad at the "misunderstanding" of the role of women and their contribution to society.

Q&A: Qualified Women Have Better Chance in Top Jobs

Irina Bokova, who was elected director-general of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) last September, heads the Paris-based agency at a time when the world body has placed a high priority on gender empowerment.

SOUTH AFRICA: Community Fears World Cup Will Cause Homelessness

While South African parliamentarians attended a swanky pre-International Women’s Day celebration at Cape Town’s International Convention Centre, a group of destitute women in decaying Kewtown, just seven miles away, worried about looming homelessness.

INDIA: No Stopping Reserved Seats for Women in Parliament

With assured backing from India's main opposition groups, the ruling Congress party hopes to see voted through in the upper house of Parliament Monday a bill reserving 33 percent of seats in national and provincial legislatures for women.

RIGHTS-SWAZILAND: Property Rights At Last for Women

A recent court ruling has finally given Swazi women the right to own and administer property in their own names.