Al Jazeera America: Uterine prolapse: The hidden agony of Nepalese women “…10 percent of Nepal’s 13 million women … suffers from the painful and debilitating condition of uterine prolapse. The ligaments and muscles in [the] pelvic floor are too weak to hold the uterus, which slips into the vagina. The…

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists”: Improving sexual and reproductive health and rights for young adolescents in Kenya Renate Baehr, executive director of DSW (Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevoelkerung), discusses the importance of improving access and attitudes around sexual and reproductive health and rights in Kenya and highlights projects that address…

Inter Press Service: Helping Uganda’s HIV-positive Women Avoid Unplanned Pregnancies “…In the last decade, Uganda’s modern contraceptive use among women has slowly increased from 18 percent to 26 percent. Though low, this level of contraceptive use likely averted 20 percent of pediatric HIV infections and 13 percent of AIDS-related children’s…

Deutsche Welle: Niger’s malnourished children “In Niger, children with dusty blond hair are ubiquitous: It’s a sure sign of widespread malnourishment. Resources are scarce, while fertility rates are soaring. Yet family planning is an uphill struggle…” (Conrad, 10/15).

Daily Beast: Time for U.S. to Support Abortion for Rape Victims in Other Countries Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federal of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund “…[T]he U.S. needs to end a 40-year-old policy that blocks women in other countries from accessing abortion. This law, known as the…

“Contrary to public perception, faith-based organizations from diverse religious backgrounds are key players in the provision of family planning services around the world, and those based in the United States advocate for increased U.S. assistance in this area to boost global health, according to a new Guttmacher Institute analysis,” a…

“The fight against AIDS has been waged for more than three decades, with more people becoming infected each day, yet preventive measures such as female condoms are not being embraced in some areas of Gulu, a post-conflict region in northern Uganda, said the district’s planner, John Luwa,” United Press International…

Huffington Post: Expanding Sexual, Reproductive Health to Score Development Goals Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA executive director “With just 500 days left to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), we must all intensify our actions to hit our targets, especially the MDG 5 targets to reduce maternal death and achieve universal reproductive…

Washington Post: Sex education is a global dividing line between liberals and conservatives Jonathan Zimmerman, professor at New York University “…[The International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994] endorsed equal access to education for girls. It also demanded ‘reproductive rights’ — including rights to contraception and…

Inter Press Service: Afghan ‘Torn’ Women Get Another Chance “…Alongside the health center in Badakhshan — 290 km northeast of Kabul — Malalai Maternity Hospital is the only health center in Afghanistan with a section devoted to coping with a disease [obstetric fistula] that is seemingly endemic to the most…