POLITICS-US: Anti-Abortion Movement Has New Poster Child

She's a politically savvy history student at the University of California, Los Angeles who is appearing on countless conservative talk radio programmes and cable television news shows.

NICARAGUA: Total Ban on Abortion Violates Human Rights, Says UN

The United Nations Committee against Torture (CAT) described the criminalisation of abortion under any circumstances in Nicaragua as a violation of human rights.

MEXICO: Avalanche of Anti-Abortion Laws

In the last 13 months, 12 of Mexico's 32 states have approved amendments to their state constitutions defining a fertilised human egg as a person with a right to legal protection, and seven other state parliaments are taking steps in the same direction.

COSTA RICA: A Day of Multi-Coloured Splendor

Government institutions and civil society organisations are holding talks, workshops and other activities aimed at raising awareness and overcoming intolerance, in preparation for the National Day Against Homophobia on Sunday in Costa Rica.

HEALTH-KENYA: Contraceptives: Stock-Outs Threaten Family Planning

Kenya's new national plan for reducing maternal mortality recognises the importance of a steady supply of contraceptives across the country. In principle, contraceptives are already available for free or heavily-subsidised at government clinics and hospitals, but for women who rely on public health system, the reality is somewhat different.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Lethal Link Between Gender Violence and AIDS

When she went to the doctor, 25-year-old Francisca Barros received two pieces of earthbreaking news. The welcome news was that she was pregnant. The terrifying news: that she was HIV-positive.

RIGHTS: Against Sexual Violence: Solidarity Among African Women

Increased cases of rape and sexual abuse of women and girls is closely associated with armed conflict and its aftermath in Africa.

AFRICA: Women's Bodies Have Been Battlefields

Religion, cultural norms and tradition promote discrimination and unequal power relations between men and women in Africa. Akina Mama wa Afrika's Christine Butegwa doesn't hesitate when asked what explains the horrific levels of sexual violence against women in conflict-affected areas on the continent.

POPULATION: Asia Faces Lower Birth and Death Rates

Asia has long been touted as the world's largest and most populous continent with over 4.1 billion people, accounting for more than 60 percent of the global population.

HEALTH-MALAWI: Women’s Group Sues Govt Over Abortion Rights

An influential women rights organisation in Malawi, Women in Law in Southern Africa-Malawi (WILSA-Malawi), is suing the government of Malawi for preventing women from accessing safe abortion.

HEALTH-ASIA: Taiwan Blazes a Trail to Help Drug Users with HIV

Taiwan is emerging as a beacon of hope for countries across Asia grappling to stop the spread of the AIDS epidemic among injecting drug users (IDUs), a major risk group.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Church Pushes Draconian Abortion Law

A truck full of female police officers, dressed in black riot protection gear, pulled up in front of the General Assembly building here to confront and control the crowd of women who had gathered on Tuesday to protest a "right to life" amendment to the Dominican constitution.

AFRICA: Developing Stronger Protection Against Gender-Based Violence

When heads of districts describe efforts to fight sexual violence as a waste of resources, it raises questions about the leadership’s commitment to deal with the matter.

DEVELOPMENT: U.N. Triples Allotment for Population

The 1994 landmark International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), held in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, fixed a target of 20.5 billion dollars for investments in population programmes worldwide for the year 2010.

CHILE: Therapeutic Abortion – Hot Election Issue

The debate on the decriminalisation of therapeutic abortion has been revived ahead of the December presidential elections in Chile, one of the few countries in the world where abortion is illegal even under extreme circumstances, such as risk to the mother's life or a severely deformed foetus.

POLITICS: In Reversal, U.S. to Engage With Human Rights Council

The Barack Obama administration’s decision this week to seek a seat on the world’s top human rights body has affirmed the hopes of many activist groups that the United States will take a far more multilateral approach to diplomacy than in the past.

POPULATION: Global Financial Crisis Threatens Family Planning

The spreading global financial crisis is threatening to undermine another one of the U.N.'s major development and health goals: family planning.

RIGHTS: Cuba Launches Anti-Homophobia Campaign

You could hear a pin drop and uncomfortable glances went round the room when the moderator of the debate invited contributions from the floor. A law student finally broke the silence, appealing for education to be a two-way street, so that homosexuals can "help us to accept them."

HEALTH-PAKISTAN: Spacing Births for Mother and Child

Health experts in Pakistan are now concentrating on getting women from all strata of society to space births.

Q&A: Meltdown a Challenge for HIV/AIDS Programmes

The global financial crisis has created a space for a vigorous debate on the life-prolonging drugs needed for people living with HIV, says Michel Sidibe, the new head of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

AFRICA: Pope on Condoms – Out in the Cold

Political leaders, activists, scientists and even Catholic bishops all joined in the chorus of criticism against the stance taken by Pope Benedict with respect to the use of condoms to curb the impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa.