Updates

It is a simple truth: The Millennium Development Goals will not be achieved in Africa without addressing sexual and reproductive health. In 2006, recognizing that women and girls deliver enormous social and economic benefits to their families, communities, and nations, the African Union boldly adopted a short-term plan to achieve the MDGs and save women’s lives in their continent: The Maputo Plan of Action. You understood the needs and realities of your countries, you came together, and you adopted a plan that moved sexual and reproductive health higher on Africa’s political agenda. We commend you for taking the lead in addressing sexual and reproductive health, including maternal health and family planning.

Now, the Maputo Plan of Action is about to expire, and we’re calling on you to reenergize your efforts to achieve the goals that you set in 2006. It’s time to build on the legacy of the Maputo Plan, and to move forward with renewed determination to save the lives of millions of women and girls. [Read more...]

This past week the New York-based Guttmacher Institute has released two new reports - one documenting the benefits of increased investment in family planning in Ethiopia and another on how lack of awareness of abortion law is a barrier to better health in Ghana.

For more information on either report, please click through to keep reading or visit guttmacher.org.

The United Nations General Assembly resolution to establish "UN Women" was agreed to on 30 June and formally adopted by the General Assembly on Friday, 2 July. The UN previously had four separate entities dedicated to women’s issues which will be combined in the new single entity focused on gender equality and the empowerment of women: the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), and the Office of the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI).