RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: ‘The Problem Is We All Work in Silos’

As secretary-general of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in September 1994, Nafis Sadik had described this groundbreaking event as a "quantum leap" in reinforcing commitments to addressing infant and maternal mortality, education and reproductive health and family planning.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Rising Seas Demand Better Family Planning

A rising population and climate change need to be considered together in an integrated policy, experts demanded at a forum on sexual and reproductive health and development held in Berlin Sep. 2-4.

DEVELOPMENT: Dying at Childbirth Every Minute

Fifteen years after 179 nations agreed to implement a plan of action on sexual health, a woman still dies every minute because of inadequate pregnancy and birth services, according to the World Health Organisation.

HEALTH-NIGERIA: Maternal Mortality, a Rural Community’s Example

Women, their children strapped to their backs, defy the mid-morning sun and converge on the Primary Healthcare Centre, located on the outskirts of Farasinme village, the Badagry West Council Development Area of Lagos State.

CHILE: Activists Demand Humane Treatment for Women Who Abort

Some 30 members of the Chilean Health Ministry's Consultative Council on Gender and Women's Health have asked the government to enforce a directive ordering humane and compassionate treatment for women who have had an abortion.

VIETNAM: Sex Selection Skews Sex Ratio

Vietnam is something of a regional leader when it comes to gender equality. There are laws against domestic violence and discrimination, and very high female literacy.

MALAWI: High-Risk Sex Among Those Who “Do Not Exist”

A study on men having sex with men (MSM) in Malawi shows that, as elsewhere in the developing world, this vulnerable group is at greater risk of contracting HIV and AIDS than the general population. Moreover, their risk status is exacerbated as governments fail to target them for health services or information to stem HIV transmission.

MEXICO: States Tighten Already Restrictive Abortion Laws

Alejandra Gómez is facing prosecution in the southern Mexican state of Puebla for having an abortion. The 20-year-old's case is symptomatic of a wave of anti-abortion legal reforms adopted by a number of states in this country.

DEVELOPMENT: Soaring Population May Swamp Anti-Poverty Goals

The U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), already undermined by the global financial crisis, are expected to take another hit - this time from rising population growth.

RIGHTS-PARAGUAY: NGO Offers Girls a Way Out of Sexual Exploitation

Claudia was 13 years old when she came to the capital of Paraguay from her small rural town. Just a few weeks after her arrival she was wandering the streets of downtown Asunción, a victim of sexual exploitation.

ARGENTINA: Safe Shortcut to Sidestep Illegal Abortion

Tired of calling for the decriminalisation of abortion - the leading cause of maternal death in Argentina - a network of women's rights activists launched a telephone hotline to inform women on a safe abortion method that requires no medical intervention: the use of a pill to terminate pregnancy.

RIGHTS-AFRICA: Elusive Justice for Victims of Gender-Based Violence

Florence Mukambi will always bear the brunt of the country’s post-election violence.

AUSTRALIA: Campaign for 'Comfort Women' Apology Intensifies

Activists here are stepping up their campaign to urge Australia's parliament to pressure the Japanese government to formally apologise to, and compensate, so-called 'comfort women', a euphemism for women across the Asia Pacific region who were forced into sexual slavery by Japan's military during the Second World War.

AFRICA: Raising the Profile of Gender-Based Violence

Imagine you are a journalist; you get a tip for a story about a sexual assault on a ten-year-old girl, and pitch it to your editor.

HEALTH-AFRICA: Family Planning: Expand Role For Private Sector

Dwindling donor support in the face of rising contraceptive demand, combined with diminishing government budgets could make already widespread shortfalls in the provision of contraceptives worse. African reproductive health experts are suggesting that the private sector could be the key to filling the gap.

Q&A: "Every Work Form You Fill Asks Your Marital Status"

When a high court amended Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a colonial-era law which was used to criminalise consensual homosexual relationships, on Jul. 2, it was a "life-changing moment for me," says Lesley Esteves, a journalist and queer activist.

NICARAGUA: Therapeutic Abortion Ban a "Disgrace" Says Rights Group

"What happened to me shattered my dreams, my hopes – I wanted to be someone who worked outside the home but I spend all day at home looking after the baby...I can’t even sleep and I feel very unsafe, many of my days are a nightmare, it’s very hard to carry on and I feel very sad and very tired," said "M", who was raped at age 17 by a relative.

RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: Gay Community Takes Heart in Indian Court Ruling

This month, Sri Lanka’s gay and lesbian community, long struggling for acceptance and respect in a conservative, majority-Buddhist country, cheered a landmark court ruling in neighbouring India.

DEVELOPMENT: India, China Fight Poverty, Population Growth

The world's two most populous nations - India and China - are placing a high priority on reproductive health and poverty alleviation as part of their efforts to meet the U.N.'s much-touted Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and its 2015 deadline.

SOUTH AFRICA: Fight Sexism to Help Young Mothers

"My mother was surprised that my breasts were getting bigger, and told me to go to the clinic to take a pregnancy test. The nurses told me I was pregnant and so I cried. I cried because I thought I was too young to have a baby and I thought I wouldn't manage."

HEALTH-MADAGASCAR: Eight Women Die During Delivery Each Day

Eight Malagasy women die per day while giving birth, either due to complications during the pregancny or during delivery, according to a recently-published national Demographic and Health Survey (DHS).