African countries need to do more to upgrade the continent’s fragile health delivery systems if they are to cope with pandemics such as the coronavirus which within weeks, has infected 10,662 people in 52 countries with 533 deaths and 1174 recoveries recorded as of this writing. The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in a new...

As African countries impose measures to prevent the spread of highly contagious Covid-19, sexual and reproductive health workers are finding their work increasingly difficult, from transportation bans to rules that could put a pregnant woman’s life in jeopardy, according to an international sexual health group. “The Covid-19 pandemic is a health crisis across every setting,...

“You were born yesterday, and you are the one who wants to talk to us about female genital mutilation? This is what parents say when we try to talk to them about it,” says 25-year-old Coulibaly who is youth activist working with Plan International to end the practice of FGM in his community in Mali....

United Nations -A little over half of women across the globe are able to freely make choices about their sexual and reproductive health, according to a latest report based on data from 57 countries. However, as much of the world has gone into lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, with countries implementing social distancing and...

Calls to helplines have soared in many countries as lockdowns leave women trapped with abusive partners. U.N. chief Antonio Guterres has called on governments to take urgent measures to tackle a “horrifying global surge” in domestic violence fuelled by worldwide lockdowns to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. Calls to helplines have doubled or...