The recent G8 summit in Canada’s Muskoka region took an important step forward in improving maternal and child health in developing countries, Canadian and American officials said at a forum Wednesday.

A group of more than 350 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) concluded a U.N. forum in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday with a call for world leaders to step up their commitments to achieving the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Australian Associated Press/Sydney Morning Herald reports (Rose, 9/1).

Food Aid Hindered Progress Of Democracy In Africa “The best way to help the millions of hungry people in countries that receive food aid get rid of their corrupt and incompetent rulers – and to ensure that their children will never go hungry in future — is to starve them now.…

Despite Church’s Opposition, Philippines To Distribute Contraceptives The government of the Philippines “will provide contraceptives to poor couples who request it despite strong opposition from the dominant Roman Catholic church” to which more than 80 percent of the country belongs, Agence France-Presse reports. President Benigno Aquino said during a visit to the United States last…

Vice President Joe Biden and British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg recently said the U.S. and Britain would provide “‘sustained long-term’ support to Pakistani flood victims,” Agence France-Presse reports.

“A record 1.2 million people in low- and middle-income countries started antiretroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS in 2009” – a 30 percent increase from the previous year and a 13-fold increase in six years, according to a joint report released Tuesday by the WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS, Reuters reports. In total, the report found that 5.25 million people received antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 2009, three-quarters of them living in Africa (Migiro, 9/28).

“Ten years after world leaders set the most ambitious goals ever to tackle global poverty, they are meeting again to try to spur action to meet the targets by the 2015 deadline – which the U.N. says will be difficult, if not impossible, in some cases,” the Associated Press reports. More than 140 world leaders are scheduled to participate in the three-day U.N. Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which kicks off Monday.

Abortion Undermines MDG Targets “The overarching and noble goal [of this week’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG) summit in New York] is reducing global poverty. But the most compelling and achievable objectives – huge reductions in maternal and child mortality worldwide – will be severely undermined if the Obama administration either directly or…

Catholic Church Critical Of Filipino President’s Stance On Contraception Catholic Church representatives have criticized Filipino President Benigno Aquino’s support for contraception, the Associated Press reports. The Reverend Deogracias Yniguez of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines told AP, “The whole church is against it,” and Reverend Melvin Castro “said church officials…

The Clinton Global Initiative’s (CGI) three-day annual summit began on Tuesday with a focus on economic growth, natural disaster preparation and the empowerment of women and girls, Reuters reports.