Filipino voters who have yet to make up their minds about their choice for their next president are being advised: look at each aspirant’s stance on reproductive health to help them gauge the candidate’s leadership mettle and political guts.
PHILIPPINES: Reproductive Health Tests Candidates’ Political Guts
March 13th, 2010ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Law on Forest Rights Fails to Deliver
March 12th, 2010A four-year-old landmark law that was supposed to bring profound changes in
the lives of India’s tribal and forest-dwelling peoples has failed to deliver on
that promise.
HEALTH: U.S. AIDS Fund Flat-Lining, Groups Complain
March 12th, 2010The debate between those who favour investment in AIDS treatment and those who favour investment in its prevention came to the forefront Thursday at a U.S House of Representatives hearing on U.S. investments in HIV/AIDS in Africa.
MEXICO: Consumers on the Offensive
March 12th, 2010Mexican consumers are currently facing a combination of price rises, economic recession and lack of legal protection in the face of abuses committed by providers of goods and services.
RIGHTS: Gender Confab Marked by Political Uncertainties
March 12th, 2010When a two-week meeting on gender empowerment concluded at U.N. headquarters Friday, there were several lingering questions crying out for answers.
POLITICS-NIGERIA: In the Shadows of Men: Women’s Political Marginalisation
March 12th, 2010Ten years after Nigeria returned to civil rule women still play second fiddle in the male-dominated politics of Africa’s most populous nation, women politicians and activists say.
HAITI: Caribbean Unites Behind Recovery Plans
March 12th, 2010As he travels back to his headquarters in Washington, World Bank president Robert Zoellick must be painfully aware that Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have very strong feelings on the redevelopment of Haiti following the Jan. 12 earthquake.
BIODIVERSITY: Lucrative Shark Trade Under Scrutiny
March 12th, 2010As climate change transforms the acidity and oxygen levels of the world’s waters with devastating effects for some marine species, others are facing an even more immediate threat from human consumption.
DEVELOPMENT-CAMEROON: Are Women the Magic Bullet for "Electoral Apathy"?
March 12th, 2010A support network for women’s political participation, are challenging head-on what it calls "electoral apathy", after noting a growing trend in electoral abstention.
RIGHTS: Guatemala, El Salvador Ordered to Heed Rulings
March 12th, 2010Guatemala and El Salvador have a terrible record in terms of compliance with the recommendations and sentences handed down by the inter-American human rights bodies on cases involving appalling abuses like forced disappearance, torture and massacres committed during the armed conflicts in the two Central American countries.
RIGHTS: Africa’s Success Stories in Gender Empowerment
March 12th, 2010Whenever gender empowerment is a vibrant topic of discussion internationally, some of the countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America are invariably singled out for their success stories in politics, education, health care or civil liberties even as Africa is mostly left out of political reckoning – and wrongly so.
RIGHTS: Africa’s Success Stories in Gender Empowerment
March 12th, 2010Whenever gender empowerment is a vibrant topic of discussion internationally, some of the countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America are invariably singled out for their success stories in politics, education, health care or civil liberties even as Africa is mostly left out of political reckoning – and wrongly so.
KENYA: New Bill to Improve State Witness Protection, If Passed
March 12th, 2010Kenyans affected by the violence that erupted after the country’s disputed presidential elections in 2007 may soon be able to speak out without fear. A new bill will offer better protection to state witnesses.
EDUCATION-TANZANIA: Pregnant Teens Forced Out of School
March 12th, 2010Pregnancy is the leading cause of dropouts for school girls in Tanzania.
And a national law forbidding young mothers to return to school after giving birth did not make it any easier for them to continue their education.
EDUCATION-URUGUAY: Gardens of Knowledge
March 12th, 2010"Nature is wise, and if we take the time to observe it, we can learn so much" is the underlying philosophy of a number of innovative programmes being carried out in Uruguayan schools that are using gardens as a teaching resource, explained Edith Moraes, director of the national Primary Education Board.


