Filipino breast milk bank gives babies a chance
A state-run breast milk bank in the Philippines is helping to fend off infant mortality in Manila, the capital, and elsewhere as breastfeeding rates differ among the working poor. Women often donate breast milk to the bank, started in 2007, to offset the expense of childbirth at the Manila hospital.
Plea for help at South Sudan refugee camp
Medecins Sans Frontieres is reporting “nothing short of a humanitarian catastrophe” at the Batil refugee camp in South Sudan, where rains are preventing road delivery of aid, and nearly one in three children are malnourished. “The MSF clinic is full of young children crying, but often the ones not making any noise are in the most trouble,” writes BBC correspondent James Copnall.
Angola reports milestone in polio fight
Friday marked the passage in Angola of a full year without a new case of wild polio. The country has invested greatly in vaccination campaigns since 2005, when the disease re-emerged after years of no reported cases.
Tunisians protest retreat on women’s rights
An estimated 6,000 Tunisians, mostly women, took to the streets Monday to protest proposed changes to the constitution that would replace a 1956 gender quality law and designate women as only “complementary to men.” “[W]e will not let Islamists turn our spring into a winter,” said one male demonstrator.
Prison terms upheld in abuse of Afghan child bride
Observers are characterizing as a small victory the recent decision by an Afghan appeals court to uphold the 10-year prison sentences for three people convicted in the torture of a 13-year-old girl, Sahar Gul, sold into marriage. Gul, now 14, is recovering at a shelter for women in Kabul.
At $21, the computer is affordable to India students
The cheapest computer in the world, the Indian-made Aakash tablet, is being field tested by teachers there. Eventually it will be sold to college students at subsidized prices of about $21, or less than half the regular price.
Anti-polio campaign is hit by setbacks in Nigeria
Concerns over security have prompted Nigeria to postpone vaccination drives, possibly increasing the number of new polio cases
Programs bring gender-aware approach to climate
The livelihoods of women in developing countries are often dependent on climate-sensitive factors, but policies that enshrine gender inequality mean the women have few options for coping. Programs in India and Colombia aim to change that dynamic. “[W]omen and men do not experience climate change equally,” writes Georgina Aboud of the Institute of Development Studies.