On the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, the General Assembly of the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) gathered to discuss the continent’s progress against HIV/AIDS, Walta Info reports.

Reproductive Health Bill Is Approved By Philippines House Of Representatives IRIN reports a “hotly debated” bill “that proposes national funding for, and access to, reproductive healthcare services and products,” cleared “a major hurdle on [Monday] after being approved by a committee of the Philippines House of Representatives” (2/1). Biliran Rep. Rogelio…

On the final day of the two-day African Union (AU) Summit taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called for greater efforts to reduce sexual violence, particularly during armed conflicts, Ezega.com reports (Barea, 1/31).

During the inaugural meeting of U.N. Women’s executive board this week, Executive Director Michelle Bachelet laid out a 100-day action plan for the newly-launched agency, Inter Press Service reports.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete were in Geneva on Wednesday to open a meeting aimed at “developing a framework” to monitor the implementation of a $40 billion U.N. maternal and child health initiative, according to CBC News. Harper and Kikwete are co-chairs of a commission that is charged with ensuring accountability for the pledges.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will travel to Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday to co-chair a commission that aims to establish benchmarks for the U.N.’s $40 billion maternal and child health initiative that was establish at last year’s Millennium Development Goal summit, the Canadian Press/Toronto Star reports (1/23).

In conjunction with the state visit to the U.S. by Chinese President Hu Jintao, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and several other federal agencies on Wednesday announced a new public-private health care partnership between the U.S. and China, Modern Healthcare reports (Blesch, 1/19).

Sufficient Support Of GAVI Would Go Long Way To Preventing Premature Deaths Around The World  “Vaccines are among the greatest scientific contributions to human welfare. They are also some of the largest humanitarian contributions of developed nations to the rest of the world. So it is unfortunate that a decade of…

After years in the making, U.N. Women, the U.N.’s new agency devoted to gender equality and women’s empowerment officially got to work this month. The Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report’s Jennifer Evans spoke with Letty Chiwara, head of U.N. Women’s Africa Division, to discuss the agency’s launch and the overlap between issues relating to women’s health and their equality and empowerment.

Afghan Government Begins Taxing U.S. Contractors The Washington Post reports on Afghanistan’s efforts “to tax U.S. contractors operating there.” Though it “could raise millions for the cash-strapped government,” U.S. and Afghan officials say the tax “could also provoke fresh confrontation with the United States,” the newspaper writes. “Taxation of U.S. government assistance is barred…