FRIDAY FILE: The Global Youth Forum (GYF) held in Bali, Indonesia, from 4-6 December 2012, was a process mandated by the United Nations (UN) as part of the review of the implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action beyond 2014.

FRIDAY FILE - Women human rights defenders (WHRDs) who promote the rights; health and safety of sexual workers are being persecuted, harassed and arrested.

Although sexual work is illegal in Uganda, providing services and support for sex workers is not.

By Katherine Ronderos

On April 27, during its 45th Session, the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD) adopted a landmark Resolution on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescents and youth.

Rape and gender violence in conflict is a problem of huge proportions across the globe.

The International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict has been launched to end this wanton scourge. AWID spoke to Yee Htun, Coordinator of the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict at the Nobel Women’s Initiative about the objectives and hopes for the campaign.

FRIDAY FILE: A pending law in the Philippines may make women and girls’ reproductive rights and health more secure. AWID spoke to Junice Demetrio-Melgar of Likhaan Center for Women’s Health about the pending Reproductive Health Bill, 2001.

AWID: What is the situation of women and girls’ reproductive health and rights in the Philippines?

FRIDAY FILE: Gender stereotypes disadvantage women in many ways. A book by Rebecca J. Cook and Simone Cusack examines these stereotypes from a legal perspective and argues for a transnational legal approach to dismantling them.

By Kathambi Kinoti

FRIDAY FILE: Four years ago, in 2007, a Brazilian judge prosecuted 1,500 women for procuring abortions.[i] That same year, a twenty-year-old woman, Ana María Acevedo, died in Argentina of cancer-related complications because her doctors refused to treat her; she was pregnant and an abortion might have saved her life.

FRIDAY FILE: A wave of shortsighted pro-natalist policies throughout Eastern Europe exposes the failures of neoliberal reform to realize rights for young women in the region.

By Masum Momaya

As another June 12th – Russia’s “National Day” – passed in Moscow, the Kremlin calculated how successful its efforts have been to encourage Russia’s women to have more babies. Worried about declining population numbers, the Russian government has introduced a host of measures designed to encourage procreation.

FRIDAY FILE: May 28, 2011 was the International Day of Action for Women’s Health. AWID spoke to Nirvana Gonzalez Rosa, General Coordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network (RSMLAC), on their call to action and the status of the right to health in the region.

FRIDAY FILE: At first glance, female genital mutilation and genital surgery carried out for cosmetic purposes might seem intrinsically different. On closer examination, however, they may be more similar than they initially appear.

By Kathambi Kinoti