By Yolanda Johnny Taylor, Director of Communications for the UN Foundation's Women and Population Program
Tuesday’s earthquake in Haiti reminds us how vulnerable women and children are - particularly in times of disaster. Poor and disadvantaged women tend to be unequally affected by natural disasters and are often overrepresented in death tolls.
Over the past year, the United States has done much to reestablish its standing in the world. Yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made another monumental stride forward by announcing our nation’s renewed commitment to ensuring that women worldwide have access to safe and effective reproductive health care.
Over at the Huffington Post Dispatch god-father Peter Daou offers his prediction that 2010 will be a horrible year for women. He writes, "Another decade closes, another decade dawns, another thing you can bet on in the years to come: women across this planet will be disrespected, beaten, abused, violated, oppressed. Simply for being born female."
Thirty years ago today, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was adopted by the General Assembly. Susan Rice has a nice statement marking the occasion. It's about time the United States gets on board and ratifies the treaty, eh?
The poorest billion people on the planet contribute only 3% of the global carbon footprint. Those same billion people will also bear the brunt of climate change. Those people tend to be farmers, and they tend to be women.
The United Nations Population Fund organized a high-level meeting in Istanbul this week, calling attention to the economic benefit of supporting family planning and the rights of women. The meeting focused on the challenges that face Central Asia and Eastern Europe as the countries in the regions try to meet the Millennium Development goals that relate to maternal mortality.
I don't know what's more sad - to actually hear about this news, or that I wasn't too surprised to hear it. In its first-ever study done on women's global health, the World Health Organization (WHO) found that the AIDS virus is the leading cause of death and disease among women aged 15 to 44. Unsafe sex is the leading risk factor in developing nations:
As Breast Cancer Awareness Month ended in the U.S. last week, new information reminds us that focus shouldn't be delegated to just one nation, let alone to just one month. AP had a story yesterday not only on the rise of breast cancer in poverty-striken nations, but on how women are developing the disease at a much younger age than in the developed world. Additionally (and not surprisingly), diagnosis is often made late in the game:
A new article at The Daily Beast highlights the risks of motherhood in India in a striking way. Every year, half a million women die as a result of pregnancy. And for every death, there are 20-30 cases of maternal injury. At the same time, high-end private clinics support surrogate mothers bearing children for infertile couple from the wealthy world. It’s an ugly dichotomy, and it points to financial inequalities and health sector weakness.
