Orginially posted on 8 March 2010 on Huffington Post by Rahim Kanani, Research Associate, Justice and Human Rights, Harvard Hauser Center
Today, when we think of Afghanistan, a cauldron of chaos comes to mind: massive international counterinsurgency and counternarcotics operations, countless NGOs struggling to maintain neutrality and operational integrity amidst the militarization of aid and development, and the sheer deprivation of dignity suffered by the overly-occupied Afghan people, among other such indictments of the international community's historic and present-day involvement. While these issues continually make above-the-fold headlines, today is International Women's Day (IWD), and I wish to highlight yet another travesty in Afghanistan: maternal mortality...
Updates
Maternal Mortality in Afghanistan: A Way Forward
March 11th, 2010
Young People Advocating for Sexual and Reproductive Rights at CSW
March 9th, 2010
Young people from across the world gathered together in New York to attend the 54th Commission on the Status of Women which also marks the 15 year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. These documents noted governments’ commitments to increase young people’s access to counselling, sexual and reproductive health information and services, and to promote their rights to privacy, confidentiality, respect and informed consent in this regard...
Global Leaders to Promote Investment in Maternal Health, Supporting International Women’s Day
March 8th, 2010
This International Women’s Day, March 8, will mark a new era—one where women’s health emerges as central to the agendas of major governments, donors, and policymakers.
“International Women’s Day is unparalleled in its commemoration of the tremendous and invaluable contributions women worldwide make to society each day,” said Jill Sheffield, President of Women Deliver, which will bring together more than 3,000 policymakers, activists, business leaders, and public figures from around the world on the eve of the G8 Summit in June. “The Women Deliver conference will seek to reinforce the idea that investment in women makes economic sense, mobilizing action on this issue and bringing it directly to policymakers.” Read more...
International Development Journalism Competition 2010 Launched
March 5th, 2010
The Guardian and Marie Stopes International, with support from the Department for International Development (DFID), announced the launch of the third annual International Development Journalism Competition.
Report: How Unsafe Abortion Affects Women in Kenya
March 4th, 2010
Every year, at least 2,600 women die from unsafe abortion in Kenya; 21,000 more women are hospitalized annually with complications from incomplete and unsafe abortion, according to a new report by the Center for Reproductive Rights titled, “In Harm’s Way: The Impact of Kenya’s Restrictive Abortion Law.” Although staggering, these numbers do not account for the number of women killed or disabled by unsafe abortions who never visit a health facility or whose cause of death is not recorded.