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.

PAKISTAN: Uncontrolled Population Blamed for Climate Change

When it comes to climate change population matters, particularly for countries in South Asia, Africa and some Arab countries, says Prof. Khalid Rashid. A mathematician and physicist in Pakistan, he has long been studying the phenomenon of global warming and views the uncontrolled population explosion with much trepidation.

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.

RIGHTS-MOROCCO: Childhood Being Stolen

Habiba Hamrouch describes her daughter, Sanaa, as her "revenge" - her blow against the mixture of abuse, tradition and indifference that enables thousands of girls to be exploited as domestic servants in Morocco.

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.

RIGHTS-IRAN: Dark Days for Women

Judicial authorities in Iran have sentenced two women activists who participated in a peaceful protest against discriminatory laws in June 2006 to more than 30 months in jail and ten lashes.

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.

RIGHTS-CUBA: Dissident Group Sees No Improvement

The temporary retirement of President Fidel Castro on Jul. 31, 2006 has resulted in no change in "the civil, political, economic and certain cultural rights situation," which continues to be "unfavourable," a dissident human rights group said on Thursday.

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.

DEVELOPMENT-MOZAMBIQUE: An MDG Temperature Check Gives Mixed Results

Only about 30 percent of Mozambicans think that their quality of life has improved since 2000, the year when the international community agreed on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), while about 42 percent believe life has not changed.

RIGHTS: Educating U.N. “Blue Helmets” on Gender Issues

Involving male facilitators can make educating United Nations security personnel on gender issues more effective in preventing the incidents of sexual abuse which have marred several U.N. peacekeeping operations.

CUBA: Proposed Reform Would Give Gay Couples Equal Rights

Cuba could become the first Caribbean island nation to recognise the civil and inheritance rights of gay and lesbian couples, if a proposed reform of the Family Code is approved.

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.

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.

HEALTH-RUSSIA: More Funding, But HIV/AIDS on the Rise

Russia's HIV infection rate continues to rise - most notably in the heterosexual and non-drug-using populations - despite steady increases in funds to fight the disease. Experts and medical researchers say dramatic changes in sexual attitudes and behaviour are essential if the trend is to be reversed.

HEALTH-ARGENTINA: Abortion – No Longer a Taboo Subject

Capitalising on a more favourable public opinion, an alliance of civil society organisations in Argentina presented to Congress a draft law Monday for the legalisation of abortion in a country where illegal abortions are the main cause of maternal mortality.

Q&A: “Eradicating FGM Lacks Political Will”

Senegalese author Khady Koita's celebrated book "Mutilée" hit book stores in Japan on May 19 and was an instant hit. Written originally in French it recalls the author's experience with the gruesome custom of female genital mutilation (FGM) and her work against the practice.

HEALTH-MALAYSIA: Condom Taboo Hampers Fight Against HIV

Lorong Haji Taib is a garbage-filled, rat-infested lane in the heart of the capital famous for its cheap sex, drugs and brawls.