Updates

By: Idrissa A. Conteh, Women Deliver 100 Young Leader from Sierra Leone

This blog is part of a series, edited by Women Deliver, in partnership with Impatient Optimists, on youth perspectives to celebrate World Contraception Day. Share your thoughts in comments and join the conversation at #WCD2012. For more stories and to get involved further visit No Controversy.

In Sierra Leone, general knowledge about sexual and reproductive health is terribly low. Limited understanding about sexual health among youth is a major obstacle that restricts young people’s access to contraception and other critical reproductive health services. Read more...

By: Alan Deivid Figueroa Frías, Women Deliver 100 Young Leader from Bolivia

This blog is part of a series, edited by Women Deliver, in partnership with Impatient Optimists, on youth perspectives to celebrate World Contraception Day. Share your thoughts in comments and join the conversation at #WCD2012. For more stories and to get involved further visit No Controversy. 

More than ever before, young people in Mexico and around the world are using the internet to research contraceptives and other reproductive health issues. This brings a new level of responsibility to information technology, and social media in particular. Read more...

By: Maureen Oduor, Women Deliver 100 Young Leader from Tanzania

This blog is part of a series, edited by Women Deliver, in partnership with Impatient Optimists, on youth perspectives to celebrate World Contraception Day. Share your thoughts in comments and join the conversation at #WCD2012. For more stories and to get involved further visit No Controversy.

In Tanga, Tanzania, young people aren’t a priority when it comes to family planning – from services, to education, to advocacy and awareness. Too often, young people don’t use family planning services because of fear or shame. There needs to be a serious increase in efforts to empower young people in this community to make a change. Read more...

By: Anne Alan Sizomu, Women Deliver 100 Young Leader from Uganda

This blog is part of a series, edited by Women Deliver, in partnership with Impatient Optimists, on youth perspectives to celebrate World Contraception Day. Share your thoughts in comments and join the conversation at #WCD2012. For more stories and to get involved further visit No Controversy.

Unfortunately, there is a misconception among young people that contraceptives are only for married and older people. But I know that family planning is important to young people too. Young or old, family planning should be a simple and personal decision made by informed individuals or couples regarding how often and when to have children. Read more...

By: Aiste Dackauskaite, Women Deliver 100 Young Leader from LithuaniaWomen Deliver 100 Young Leader from Lithuania Women Deliver 100 Young Leader from ZimbabweWomen Deliver 100 Young Leader from ZimbabweWomen Deliver 100 Young Leader from Lithuania

This blog is part of a series, edited by Women Deliver, in partnership with Impatient Optimists, on youth perspectives to celebrate World Contraception Day. Share your thoughts in comments and join the conversation at #WCD2012. For more stories and to get involved further visit No Controversy.

The benefits of contraception for young people seem self-evident – it enables them to protect their health, control their life, and plan their future. However, UN research shows that Lithuania has one of the lowest levels of contraceptive use in Europe. Why aren’t people, especially young people, using contraception in Lithuania? Read more...

By: Wanzala E. Martin, Women Deliver 100 Young Leader from Uganda

This blog is part of a series, edited by Women Deliver, in partnership with Impatient Optimists, on youth perspectives to celebrate World Contraception Day. Share your thoughts in comments and join the conversation at #WCD2012.

I am from Uganda, a country that many consider one of the earliest and best success stories in reducing HIV in the world. Whether or not you agree with this assertion, one fact for sure is that Uganda has experienced substantial declines in HIV prevalence and incidence during the past decade, especially among adolescents. This reduction can largely be attributed to increased access to contraception coupled with better funding to the health sector. Read more...

By: Harshi Hettige, Women Deliver

Over 600 Zambian girls have been empowered to stand up against violence as a result of the Tisunge Ana Athu Akazi (Lets Protect Our Girl Children) Coalition (TAAAC). The Coalition took action in a country where one-third of girls surveyed reported that they knew of girls who had been sexually harassed by a teacher, and half reported knowing girls who had been exploited by a family member.

Led by Equality Now and with a grant from the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, TAAAC unites Zambian organizations to take action against gender-based violence. Read more...

By: Harshi Hettige, Women Deliver

Praekelt Foundation’s Young Africa Live (YAL) is an entrepreneurial endeavor supporting the health and well-being of girls, women, and all youth in a fun and dynamic way.

YAL filled a yawning gap in South Africa’s mobile reach, which neglected to provide consumers with any information about HIV/AIDS - where to get tested, how to practice safe sex, and how to avoid getting it. This information is direly needed, particularly in a country where an estimated 5.6 million people were living with HIV and AIDS in 2009, the highest number of people affected in any nation. Read more...

By: Lindsay Menard-Freeman, Women Deliver

Last week, the Washington DC YouthForce convened nearly 200 young people prior to the International AIDS Conference. Participants gathered at Gallaudet University from July 18 – 20 with hopes of meeting new people, sharpening skills and preparing for meaningful youth participation during the conference.

At the end of three days of workshops, plenaries, trainings, sessions, video screenings, home-group meetings, pizza parties, music & dance events and more, there were several positive outcomes and key highlights. Not only are young participants now geared up for the week, prepared with technical skills, new relationships and energy; they also developed a crowd-sourced Declaration for Change in its final editing stages by the time the pre-conference ended. Read more...

By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

In 1994, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) acknowledged that governments should make information and services available to adolescents to increase awareness of adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH), including unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and risks of infertility. According to ICPD, this information should be youth-friendly, and involve multiple stakeholders from diverse sectors, at different levels of government. Read more...

By: Vicky Markham, Center for Environment and Population (CEP); Originally posted on RH Reality Check

The Rio+20 conference is now entering its last days, final negotiations have begun, and tensions are rising as the challenge to our issues is acute. There’ve been demonstrations, heightened advocacy, and frustration:  while we know the issues of “women, reproductive health and environmentally sustainable development” are integrated in the real world (thus essential to achieving the goals of this Earth Summit), coming away with anything less than them being central and overarching in the final Rio+20 document would be a major disappointment, and more. Let’s see what the last days actually bring, things can still change. Soon the Rio+20 outcome document will be finalized and all will be heading home. Read more...

By: Vicky Markham, Center for Environment and Population (CEP); Originally posted on RH Reality Check

This morning I ventured the opposite direction from Rio Centro where the UN Rio+20 negotiations are taking place, and travelled with colleagues to the Cachoeirinha (I was told it means “waterfall”) Favela in Rio de Janeiro. These shantytowns are quite common in Rio, well over one million strong, located within and around the city limits. This particular one has 37,000 residents. Read more...

By: Corine Milano; Originally Posted on World Pulse

World Pulse delivered the voices of grassroots women leaders to the UN’s 2nd Landmark Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Of the 55 statements from women in 28 different countries, eight recommendations were highlighted on the website, exposing that sustainable development must tackle issues ranging from sanitation to land rights to economic empowerment for women. Read more...

By: Harshi Hettige, Women Deliver; Blogs originally posted by WAGGGS

The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is represented at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20) in Brazil by a delegation of 24 young women from 15 different countries.

With 10 million Girl Guides and Girl Scouts from 145 countries across the world, WAGGGS is the largest voluntary movement dedicated to girls and young women in the world. The World Association supports girls and young women to develop their full potential as responsible citizens of the world by focusing on leadership development and active citizenship. Read more...

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 this week’s Rio+20 conference, June 20-22.

Today marked the official start of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as the Rio+20 Summit, during which global leaders will discuss how to reduce poverty while preserving the environment. Discussions will also focus on a future sustainable development framework, known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which could eventually replace the Millennium Development Goals in 2015.

Women Deliver and Worldwatch are following the action in Rio – please visit us for interviews, press statements, and other resources on discussions and activities at the Rio+20 Summit. Read more...

By: Women Deliver and Worldwatch Institute

Women Deliver is collaborating with the 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.

Rio+20 is a key moment for advocates of reproductive health and rights to ensure that leaders understand and support the central role of reproductive health and voluntary family planning in sustainable development.  Below are some common questions about Rio+20 and the role of women in sustainability. Read more...