International donors, including the US and Japan, pledged $16 million in development aid to Afghanistan at the Tokyo Conference yesterday. Four million dollars will be provided annually through 2015. By providing this assistance, the international community expressed its commitment to assist with the stabilization of Afghanistan as international troops are withdrawn from the country. In […]
Saudi Arabia Allows Women in Olympics, But Will Any Qualify?
For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, women from all competing countries will be offered an opportunity to take part in the international event. That’s because the Saudi Arabia government announced yesterday, through its London embassy, that it will permit female athletes to join its team at the 2012 London Games, which begin July 27.
Rio Disappoints on Women’s Rights
I could go on. But if you’ve seen any of the news on the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, you know it did not live up to the hype. Ask anyone from any sector–oceans, food security, education, energy–and they will all express disappointment. But for those of us advancing the sexual and reproductive rights of women, Rio+20 has been particularly disappointing.
Women of Color, the Wage Gap and the Paycheck Fairness Act
The average American woman earns only $0.77 to every full dollar that the average American man earns. What do statistics fail to capture about the lives of women of color? A Black woman in the US earns only $0.62 to every full dollar that a white man in the U.S earns. A Hispanic woman earns […]
Open Letter to Obama, Karzai Urges Women’s Inclusion in Afghanistan Talks
Amnesty International issued an open letter to President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai at their “Shadow Summit” Saturday urging both leaders to safeguard women’s rights. Forty-six people signed the open letter, including Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal and Ms. magazine founder Gloria Steinem. Other signatories include former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; […]
Wrap It Up India: The Time Is Now For Family Planning
According to “Condom Use Before Marriage and Its Correlates: Evidence from India,” a study published in the December issue of International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, the majority of people in India having premarital sex between the ages of 15 and 24 did not use condoms. Authors K.G. Santhya, Rajib Acharya and Shireen J. […]
Concerns Arise over Maternal Mortality in Afghanistan
Politicians, economists and activists gathered at the Bonn Conference in early December expressed concerns regarding the impact of the withdrawal of th US on maternal mortality. Sarah Pickworth, a public health specialist in Afghanistan stated, “The greatest risk at present is through aid levels dropping off precipitously. Without sufficient funding, there is likely to be […]
Maternal Mortality Decreases in Afghanistan
The Afghanistan Mortality Survey (AMS) 2010, sponsored by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the US Government, and the British Department for International Development, revealed that over the past five years, maternal and infant mortality has declined dramatically in Afghanistan. According to the research, there are “500 deaths per 100,000 live births,” as compared to 2005 […]
Should Catholic Bishops Have The Right To Control Your Life?
By Janet Hill, Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), National CLUW Vice President (United Steelworkers) Catholic bishops are pressuring the Obama administration to dilute the rule proposed by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to allow women access to birth control without paying out of pocket. There is a narrow exemption that allows religious […]
Does China Have the Solution for the Population Crisis? Not Even Close
by Meghan Yee On October 31, the world population reached 7 billion. According to one Chinese demographer, however, if not for China’s one-child policy, the world population would have hit that number five years ago. China has the largest population on earth with 1.4 billion people. However, since 1979, the National Population and Family Planning […]
The Women of “Women, War and Peace”
By Michele Kort The remarkable five-part PBS series Women, War and Peace concludes on tonight (Tuesday, November 8th) with War Redefined, the capstone piece that brings together the issues brought up in the previous films about conflicts in Afghanistan, Colombia, Liberia and Bosnia. Narrated by Geena Davis, the film touches on, among other things, […]
The Staggering Facts of Seven Billion
We humans mark a milestone today—the world’s population reaches 7 billion. When I was born there were about 2.2 billion people on earth. When my assistant was born there were a little more than 5 billion people on earth. It took just 12 years to go from 6 billion to 7. As the population climbs […]
Reflections on a Population Surging Beyond 7 Billion
6,998,460,833: the world’s current population, according to an estimate by Population Action International (PAI). In anticipation of October 31st, the day the world’s population is predicated to reach 7 billion, I’ve sat at my desk transfixed by PAI’s scrolling ticker, documenting the rapidly increasing population as it approaches a number troubling to reproductive rights activists, […]
What Does Seven Billion Mean for Women?
The UN has projected that the world’s population will reach 7 billion today, a scary milestone amidst increasing global political and economic instability. More people will only place increased pressure on our environment, on the world’s habitats, forests, and resources such as water. But how does investing in women’s rights tie into slowing the world’s […]
African Women Need Contraception AND HIV Prevention
A study published on Monday called into question the benefits of injectable hormones, the most popular form of contraception used in Southern and Eastern Africa, and identified a link between the contraception and HIV transmission. The study appeared in a front page, above the fold article in Tuesday’s New York Times, attracting attention to the […]
For Saudi Women, Voting Win Masks Driving Crackdown
By Trish Calvarese, 9/26/2011 In a national TV address Sunday, Saudi King Abdullah declared an end to the de facto ban on women’s suffrage. Beginning in 2015, women will be able to vote and run in local elections. This seemingly good news, heralded by the AP as “a major advancement for the rights of women,” overshadowed […]
A Beating for a Phone: Women Struggle to Access Mobile Technology
People are always shocked to learn how widespread and easily available mobile technology is in “developing nations” like Bangladesh, Kenya, and Afghanistan. When my husband visited my city of birth, Dhaka, last year he could not believe how many people had cell phones in a country where more than half of the population cannot access […]
US Assistance to Global Health Programs: The Battle Continues
The recent hostile budget process targeted women’s health programs globally as much as it did domestically. International family planning was targeted for a 40% cut and UNFPA funding eliminated in the House majority proposals alongside a total elimination of Title X and Planned Parenthood funding. The final amount approved for FY 2011 by Congress for […]
Virginity Tests: Time to Let Gender Out of Revolution’s Closet
There is no doubt that the recent revolution in Egypt got the wheels of the Arab Spring rolling. But just as quickly as women flooded the corners of Tahrir Square and the streets of Cairo in the hopes of a democratic Egypt, their voices were sidelined. This is not uncommon. Even in conservative countries, we […]
Starting the Engine: Saudi Women Drive for Their Rights
The spirit of the Arab Spring broke the steel gates of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today as one by one Saudi women started their engines, defying the country’s notorious ban on women driving, the only place in the world where women are not permitted to drive. Today’s protest is the culmination of an online […]