Updates

By: David Holmes; Originally posted on The Lancet

On Nov 14, the United Nations Population Fund released The State of World Population 2012: By Choice, Not By Chance: Family Planning, Human Rights and Development. Fred Sai is that slogan made flesh; he is the godfather of family planning. In a career spanning over 50 years, Sai has served as population director at the World Bank, is a past president of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and chaired the main committee of the pivotal 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo. Now semi-retired, the 88-year-old still finds time to sit on the boards of Women Deliver and Population Action International. The Lancet caught up with Sai to find that, after more than half a century of involvement in family planning, his passion burns as fiercely as ever. Read more on The Lancet...

By: Danielle Nierenberg, Worldwatch Institute

Women Deliver is collaborating with Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet project to highlight the important role of women, youth, and reproductive and sexual rights in sustainable development at the upcoming Rio+20 conference.Women Deliver is collaborating with Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet project to highlight the important role of women, youth, and sexual and reproductive health and rights in sustainable development at the upcoming Rio+20 conference.

Leading development institutions have compiled research, documents, and factsheets to provide information on women’s issues for Rio+20. These publications make a clear link between sustainability and women’s empowerment, health, and wellbeing. Read more...

The Guardian newspaper has shortlisted three journalists for their coverage of how maternal, reproductive, and sexual health and rights shape the lives of girls and women and their communities as part of its fourth annual “International Development Journalism Competition.” Click through to learn more...

TIME Magazine has recently published a great article addressing the need to focus more development aid on girls and recognizing those who are empowering teen girls to give back to the global community. Nancy Gibbs, the author of the piece, highlights the sad fact that "the leading cause of death for girls 15 to 19 worldwide is not accident or violence or disease; it is complications from pregnancy. Girls under 15 are up to five times as likely to die while having children than are women in their 20s, and their babies are more likely to die as well." It's this tragedy that Women Deliver is working so hard to change. Read more...

Cell phones have cut dramatically the number of women dying during childbirth in Amensie village in south-central Ghana, according to an article posted on AlertNet.

On October 25, 2009, the NY Times published a story about a bill that has been introduced in the Philippines to increase contraceptive use.

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the 21^st century. As the international community gears up for the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, the reproductive health and rights community is starting to look closely at the links between RH and climate change.

On August 23, the NY Times has a special issue of the their magazine dedicated to "Saving the World's Women." We've been waiting in anticipation of this issue -- salivating over the cover-to-cover coverage of topics focused on women.

Last week, the Population Reference Bureau launched the annual World Population Data Sheet, highlighting country, regional, and global population, health, and environment data and patterns.

Today, supermodel, actress, and mother Liya Kebede posted to the Huffington Post about, "We Need a Global Fund for Moms."

Earlier this month, Sia Nyama Koroma, First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone, wrote an article on Huffington Post titled, "It's Time to Make Mothers a Priority."

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama's visit to Africa this weekend "will send a powerful message to the world about their commitment to ensuring Africa's continued progress," wrote Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) in an opinion piece in http://thehill.com/op-eds/improving-maternal-health--in-developing-countries-2009-07-07.html">The Hill.

Just when you think you've got it all figured out! We just found an article from AllAfrica.com about doctors in Ghana who have had to halt special prenatal home visits because road crash casualties are taking up so much of their time and scarce resources, medical workers say.

In a fantastic op-ed in the Boston Globe, Mary Robinson and Alicia Yamin, advisory council members of the International Initiative on Maternal Mortality and Human Rights, discuss the issue of preventable maternal deaths as a violation of women's rights.

To the Editor: The May 29 editorial, Preventable Deaths notes little progress in the last decade on reducing maternal mortality - 500,000 deaths annually, 99% in developing countries.

Yesterday, Sarah Brown wrote a piece for the Guardian on her new campaign to improve maternal care. In the article she referenced Professor Allan Rosenfield's famous quote, "Where is the 'M' in MCH?" To address this question, she referenced some recent positive steps forward.