A new joint statement endorsed by leading human rights and development organizations calls for human rights be placed at the core of the new development agenda.

Association pour la Promotion de l’Autonomie et des Droits de la Fille/Femme (APAD) promotes the rights and autonomy of young mothers and survivors of early and forced marriage in Maroua, Cameroun. They empower young mothers, survivors of early and forced marriage in Maroua to share their experiences and support other victims.

Founded in 1995 by schoolteacher Rosine Gwem in a low-income neighborhood of Douala, Cameroun's second-largest city, AIA is the only Camerounian organization focused on providing accurate and age-appropriate sexuality education to pre-adolescent girls (aged 8 to 12). Throughout Cameroun, teenage girls lack basic information about sexuality and reproduction, rendering them vulnerable to unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortion, and HIV/AIDS. Through educational sessions and community outreach, AIA strives to reach these girls early with vital information about their bodies and their rights, providing them with the skills to navigate their adolescent years in good health. IWHC has supported AIA since 2002.

The Society for Women and AIDS in Africa-Cameroun (SWAAC) is Pan-African, non-governmental, non-sectarian, and non-profit organization based in Cameroun. SWAAC is a women’s organization working in collaboration with men to promote African women’s health by identifying causes and effects of HIV and AIDS.

GPI seeks to empower girls, especially those between the ages of 10-18 years and to promote their sexual and reproductive health and rights, through educational programmes, counseling, referral services and social action.

GPI won a 2012 MacArthur Award for Creative & Effective Institutions. 

Based in the central Nigerian city of Minna, where Sharia'h Islamic law—introduced at the state level in 2000—threatens women's human rights and undermines all people's access to accurate information on sexuality and reproduction, INCRESE advocates for the sexual health and rights of society's most disenfranchised groups, including youth, sexual minorities, survivors of sexual violence, commercial sex workers, and widowed women living with HIV/AIDS. Through education programs in its outreach center and advocacy throughout the community, INCRESE is promoting an understanding of sexual rights that is both protective (the right to say no to unwanted sex) and affirmative (the right to sexual expression)—and challenging the culture of silence around sexuality in a highly conservative environment. IWHC has supported INCRESE since its creation in 2002.

Josina Machel delivered this speech at the 4th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in February 2010. Machel is a gender activist and a social entrepreneur and a member of the Board of Directors of the International Women's Health Coalition. The speech is available to download in Word and PDF.

This post is by Audacia Ray and originally appeared on Our Bodies, Our Blog on January 26, 2009.

Demand for newer and better devices that protect against pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections is constant — partly due to the fact that the process of development, testing and approval takes forever, and partly because what’s on the market often leaves something to be desired.

Each year, the International Women's Health Coalition issues the "Top Ten Wins for Women's Health and Rights."