By: Mary Beth Hastings, Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) Vice President
It’s not that we can’t do it. We have the ability to save the lives of almost every one of the 290,000 women who die each year as a result of pregnancy and childbirth, in addition to millions of children. A new report – released with little fanfare – by the UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children details how we can save 6 million lives over five years simply by improving access to 13 vital products. Read more...
Goldman Sachs and the Acumen Fund partnered together last month to provide a workshop for rising women entrepreneurs. The two corporations collaborate annually – bringing together female leaders in varying industries (from biotech to floristry to financial services) from the emerging markets of India and Kenya. 
A record number of women were sworn in as legislators as Senegal’s new parliament was inaugurated on Monday. Sixty-four women now have seats in this West African country’s 150-member National Assembly, thanks to a law on gender parity. But the breakthrough made by women candidates has relaunched a debate on the quality of their work in the legislature. Elections to the National Assembly, the lower of two houses of parliament, took place on Jul 1, and were comfortably won by the Benno Bokk Yaakaar coalition (BBY), whose candidate – Macky Sall – won the presidential election in March.