By Juan Forero

The New York Times, December 3, 2005

PAMPLONA, Colombia – In this tradition-bound Roman Catholic town one day in April, two young women did what many here consider unthinkable: pregnant and scared, they took a cheap ulcer medication known to induce abortions. When the drug left them bleeding, they were treated at a local emergency room—then promptly arrested.

The New York Times, October 11, 2005

Editorial

The list of Bush appointees who seem to be rising on political connections rather than expertise continues to grow. A recent example is President Bush's choice to head a key office at the State Department that coordinates the delivery of life-sustaining emergency aid to refugees of foreign wars, persecution and natural disasters. The nominee is Ellen Sauerbrey, the former Maryland state legislator and twice-defeated Republican candidate for governor who was state chairman of Mr. Bush's 2000 campaign.

By Adrienne Germain and Jennifer Kidwell

Monday Developments, August 8, 2005

Five years ago, the world’s governments defined eight Millennium Development Goals to inspire action and monitor progress on eliminating global poverty by 2015. They represent a vision for collaboration among all people committed to moral, as well as material, global progress.

>>Available in PDF

Summary: By Adrienne Germain, President, International Women's Health Coalition, and Ruth Dixon-Mueller, Consultant for the International Women's Health Coalition (Studies in Family Planning, Vol. 36, No. 2, June 2005, pp. 137-140). Outlines connections and gaps between the achievement of sexual and reproductive health and rights as defined by the 1994 ICPD Programme of Action and subsequent global agreements, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (4 pages).

>>Available in PDF 

Summary: By Adrienne Germain (Published in Restoring American Leadership: 13 Cooperative Steps to Advance Global Progress, a joint publication of the Open Society Institute and the Security and Peace Institute, April 2005). Outlines key opportunities for the Bush administration to play a leadership role in accelerating global cooperation on women's health and human rights, especially in slowing the advance of HIV/AIDS
(7 pages).

Click here to download Restoring American Leadership from the Open Society Institute's website.

The New York Times, March 5, 2005

Editorial

At a moment when the United States should be leading the world on advancing women's equality, the Bush administration chose instead to alienate government ministers and 6,000 other delegates at an important United Nations conference on that issue with a burst of anti-abortion zealotry this week.

>>Available in French and Spanish

Summary: By Adrienne Germain (Our Planet Magazine, October 2004). Explains why empowering women is the key to solving a range of global health, development, and environmental challenges, reviews commitments made on improving women's health and advancing women's rights at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD, Cairo, 1994) and summarizes achievements made in the last decade.