HEALTH-AFRICA: Bringing Traditional Birth Attendants Into the Mainstream

In an ideal world, all of Africa's women would have access to clinics, nurses, obstetricians, medicines: the panoply of staff and equipment needed to make the process of giving birth as safe as possible.

MEXICO: Sex Abuse Victim Under Fire from Catholic Church

Joaquín Aguilar has been seeking justice since 1994, when he says he was sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest in Mexico who is accused of molesting some 60 other boys as well.

PERU: Congress to Debate Death Penalty for Child Rapists

Three different draft laws have been announced in Peru to expand the death penalty to child rapists, who are "not human beings" but "abominable, execrable and monstrous" creatures who "have no rights," according to one of the initiatives.

HEALTH-AFRICA: “There Hasn’t Been Adequate Emphasis on Family Planning”

The problem of limited access to contraceptives is taking centre stage at an African Union (AU) meeting currently underway in Maputo.

COSTA RICA: Congress to Study Bill on Homosexual Civil Unions

The Diversity Movement in Costa Rica is sponsoring a draft law on civil unions for same-sex couples which will be presented formally to the legislature this week.

POPULATION-JAPAN: Protecting Working Mothers’ Rights

Kaori Tokoro, 37, gave up the job she held down for 12 years with a medium-sized interior design company when she became pregnant six years ago.

HEALTH-CHILE: Court Stops Free Distribution of ‘Morning After Pill’

The Santiago appeals court ruled Wednesday against the distribution of emergency contraception, or the morning after pill, to girls in Chile between the ages of 14 and 18 without parental consent.

MEXICO: Ties Between Elites and Child Sex Rings “Beyond Imagination”

The complicity in Mexico between child sex rings and the political and business elites "goes beyond what we can even imagine," says activist Lydia Cacho, who faces death threats and was even thrown briefly into prison for revealing those ties in a book.

NEPAL: Only Half of Women Know Abortion is Legal

As the 21st century began, more women were dying during childbirth in Nepal than in almost any other country and it was estimated that half of maternal deaths in hospitals were caused by unsafe abortions.

HEALTH-CHILE: ‘Morning After Pill’ for Everyone – for Free

The Chilean government decreed that all public health centres must provide birth control, including emergency contraception, to adolescents and women over the age of 14 - a measure that immediately drew the ire of the Catholic Church and the right-wing opposition parties.

HEALTH: Muslims and AIDS

When it comes to responding to HIV and AIDS, Muslims are neither better nor worse than anyone else, but in its progressive form, Islam is certainly better prepared to respond than the Vatican, says Farid Esack.

POPULATION-SINGAPORE: It is Either Babies or Immigrants

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has warned that Singaporeans will either have to produce more babies or they would have to welcome more migrants to sustain economic growth and living standards.

HEALTH-COTE D’IVOIRE: Abortion – Illegal, Sought After, Sometimes Fatal

Poverty, civil war, fears of religious persecution: any one of these can push women to have abortions. In Côte d'Ivoire, however, all of these factors are present, leading to what some claim are substantial increases in the termination of pregnancies.

RIGHTS-KENYA: Available for Serving Drinks – Not for Sex

When next in Nairobi, spare a thought for the women who will in all likelihood serve you, if you visit a bar or two in search of a drink.

HEALTH-ASIA: Gays’ High Risk for HIV Gains Recognition

When the Thai government accepted men who have sex with men (MSM) as a vulnerable community in the country's fight against AIDS, earlier this year, it gave them hope of being covered under HIV prevention programmes.

POPULATION-INDIA: Crackdown on Sex Selective Abortions, Finally

For campaigners against the practice of selectively aborting unborn girls - that has already affected the gender balance in northern India - nurse Pooja Rani is something of a heroine.

DEATH PENALTY-IRAN: Condemned for Being Different

Say we go back one year, to Jul. 19, 2005. Say we move from New York to Mashad, a city in northeastern Iran. There, one year ago, two teenagers named Ayaz Marhoni and Mahmoud Asgari were put to death for a crime involving homosexual intercourse, after being detained for 14 months and tortured with lashing.

KENYA: Stopping Pregnancy From Being the End of the Educational Road

Are the effects of teenage pregnancy on the education of girls being addressed with sufficient vigour in Kenya? With statistics indicating that pregnancy accounts for 31 percent* of all school drop-out cases among girls, this is a question that begs asking.

MEXICO: Child Sexual Exploitation Fuelled, Protected by Economic Clout

While the Mexican government is touting the imprisonment of businessman Jean Succar, accused of running a child sex ring, as evidence of its tough stance against child sexual exploitation, authorities also admit that the number of minors subjected to such crimes has increased from 16,000 to 20,000 over the last six years.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Youth Helping Youth

When it comes to fighting the spread of HIV among South Africa's young people, one of the best weapons appears to be the youth itself. Just ask Zamani Cele, one of 348 students who have been trained by the University of KwaZulu-Natal's AIDS programme during the past two years.

RIGHTS-PERU: Forcibly Sterilised Women Gain Voice in Congress

Congressman-elect Alejandro Aguinaga, a former health minister during the Alberto Fujimori administration (1990-2000), as of Jul. 28 will have to share the legislative chamber with rural activist Hilaria Supa Huamán, who has denounced him for promoting the forced sterilisation of hundreds of thousands of Peruvian women.