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Leadership group announced for the landmark Family Planning 2020 partnership to help provide an additional 120 million women and girls in the world’s poorest countries with access to voluntary family planning information, contraceptives and services.

NEW YORK: Eighteen leaders from civil society, governments, multi-lateral organizations, technical institutions and foundations are participating on the “Reference Group” for Family Planning 2020 (FP2020). The partnership was a key outcome of the London Summit on Family Planning convened by the UK Department for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on July 11, 2012. Read more...

Yesterday, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution banning the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). This resolution was one of five passed yesterday to advance the rights of girls and women worldwide.

Approximately 140 million girls and women across the globe are affected by FGM, and each year an additional three million girls are at risk of being subjected to the practice. In Africa, it is estimated that 92 million girls under the age of 10 have undergone FGM. FGM can result in severe bleeding, urinary difficulties, infections, infertility and complications in childbirth, and is widely recognized as a human rights violation. Read more...

Originally posted on PR Newswire

The second edition in Mediaplanet's "Investing in the Developing World" series hit newsstands in select markets of USA Today this morning, transporting readers to the Asian continent.

The "Investing in Asia" publication will traverse the human landscape of globalization, presenting a panorama of life on the continent.  With the support of CARE, Women Deliver, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), Water Missions International, Opportunity International, Mercy Corps, American Indian Foundation, Give2Asia, Management Sciences for Health, IntraHealth, Church World Service, Developments in Literacy, and International Institute for Rural Reconstruction, Mediaplanet will take readers on a journey from the valleys of the Hindu Kush to the peak of Mount Everest, from the haves to the have-nots, in order to portray the reality of life on the continent. Read more...

The most recent World Health Organization publication, Optimizing Health Worker Roles to Improve Access to Key Maternal and Newborn Health Interventions Through Task Shifting, recommends that governments enable more health workers below the level of doctor to deliver vital maternal and newborn healthcare services, including family planning. Read more...