Thanks to Bob Engelman for this commentary on the situation in the Philippines. See his weekly blog on issues related to his book, More: Population, Nature and What Women Want, at http://morethebook.org/.
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In the Philippines, Less of What Women Want

One of the dozens of countries around the world where hunger is back in the news is the Philippines, where soaring rice prices and long-standing reliance on imported food are raising an old question many people thought was buried for good: Does population growth eventually run into the limits of food production?

For full article, visit:
http://morethebook.org/

Thanks to Dan Sherr for this article.
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Birthrates Help Keep Filipinos in Poverty, Contraceptives, Rejected by Government, Are Unaffordable for Many in Majority-Catholic Nation

Maria Susana Espinoza wanted only two children. But it was not until after the birth of her fourth child in six years that she learned any details about birth control.

“I knew it existed, but I didn’t know how it works,” said Espinoza, who lives with her husband and children in a squatter’s hut in a vast, stinking garbage dump by Manila Bay.

For full article, visit:
http://www.washingtonpost.com

This website has links to the WHO site where you can obtain the complete report on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence, along with other resources: http://www.path.org/projects/researching_violence.php. The WHO/PATH report is at http://www.path.org/files/GBV_rvaw_complete.pdf and the WHO Multi-Country Study is at http://www.who.int/gender/violence/who_multicountry_study/en/index.html.

I thought you might find this publication of interest.
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Violence Against Women (PDF, 211 KB)

The HIV seroprevalence among women aged 15-24 years was compared according to their pattern of contraceptive use in four African countries: Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Data were derived from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted between 2003 and 2006 on representative samples, totaling 4549 women.

It is indicated that users of depo-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) have a significantly higher seroprevalence than nonusers [odds ratio (OR)=1.82, 95% CI=1.63-2.03] and higher than users of oral contraceptives and users of traditional methods. The results were confirmed in a multivariate analysis including as controls, age, duration since first intercourse, urban residence, education, number of sexual partners in the last 12 months and marital status.

For full article, visit:
http://www.contraceptionjournal.org/article/S0010-7824(08)00061-9/abstract

There are over 200 videos available on-line on the following subjects: Reproductive Health, Fistula, Population and Development, Gender Equality, Humanitarian Response, Human Rights, Adolescents & Youth, Safe Motherhood, Culturally Sensitive Approaches, HIV/AIDS, Advocacy, Reproductive Health Commodities, International Conference on Population and Development.

For full article, visit:

http://video.unfpa.org/

In Ethiopia, it can be dangerous for a girl to leave the house. Not because of war, or weather, but “weddings”—specifically the long-standing cultural tradition of marriage by abduction.
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I thought you would be interested in seeing a report from PMC-Ethiopia regarding a recently-completed workshop with Muslim leaders from the Afar region on the subject of FGM.
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PMC Vice President for International Programs Kriss Barker has a feature article in the Global Health Council’s latest AIDSLink (Issue 104, 1 July, 2007).

AIDSLINK, Issue 104 | July 1 2007
Written by Kriss Barker, Vice President, International Programs Population Media Center

Anguach and Demlew are the main characters in an Ethiopian serial drama. They are a loving young couple with a bright future. But Demlew’s mother, who doesn’t like Anguach, begins to meddle and pushes a neighbor to seduce her son. He succumbs, sleeps with the neighbor, and is infected with HIV. Anguach is devastated, but forgives him, and cares for him until he dies. Although terrified that she might be HIV positive, Anguach gets tested and finds out that she is negative. Anguach eventually marries again (this time, a man without a meddling mother!) and lives happily ever after. Touching story – but did it have any impact?

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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – On August 1, 2007, thirty religious leaders from the Afar region, and representatives from the Islamic Affairs Bureau and the Women’s Affairs Bureau created and signed a declaration to end the practice of female circumcision (also called female genital mutilation or FGM). The declaration was one of the end results of a workshop Population Media Center (PMC) held on July 31st and August 1st to discuss the issue of female circumcision and what religious leaders can do to help eradicate the practice.
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