(Lomé, Togo -­‐May 2013 )

Representatives from African states have been outspoken in calling for a ‘concerted and accelerated effort’ towards an Africa-‐wide ban on cluster bombs at a meeting in Lomé this week. Cluster Munition Coalition campaigners attending the meeting from African states, including survivors, called on states to act now to protect civilians from harm.

On Thursday, May 23, the world will be marking the first-ever International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, as recently designated by the United Nations General Assembly. USAID commemorates this day by celebrating a milestone in global maternal health: Over 30,000 fistula repair surgeries have been performed with U.S. support since 2005. Fistula, a devastating childbirth injury believed to affect millions of women in developing countries, can be surgically repaired up to 90% of the time.

UNITED NATIONS, New York—UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, will launch two new initiatives that will increase access to family planning and improve maternal health in some of the most-hard-to-reach areas around the world, including post-conflict and post-disaster countries. These initiatives build on UNFPA’s more than 40 years of support to family planning and showcase its leadership in driving innovative approaches that empower those at the frontline to reach marginalized communities.

IHA/1321

Disaster Losses Would Be Cut if Children Knew What to Do, They Say

GENEVA, 22 May (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) ‑ Children can and should play a crucial role in disaster risk reduction, a panel of children from disaster-prone regions told the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction this afternoon.

ECOWAS has called for more support from the UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) for effective implementation of the region’s gender, child and humanitarian policies.

The Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Toga McIntosh told a visiting delegation led by the fund’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa Mr. Benot Kalasa, that the organization "is desirous of working with you in this area and facilitating project implementation and coordination for greater impact."

In 2012 the global community witnessed a range of human rights emergencies that forced large numbers of people to seek safety, within states or across borders.

Darles a los niños la comida mientras están en el colegio ha sido una estrategia clave para las organizaciones humanitarias como el PMA, que lo ven como una inversión a futuro tanto para el niño como para el país. Actualmente en Brasil se reúnen expertos en el Foro Global de Nutrición Infantil para discutir diferentes maneras de mejorar este tipo de programas. A continuación, destacamos las vidas de tres personas que ya han experimentado estos beneficios.

BRASILIA – Close to 300 delegates from 37 countries are converging today on Costa do Sauípe, Brazil, to exchange experiences and debate options to strengthen school feeding programmes for millions of children worldwide at the Global Child Nutrition Forum 2013.

Ministers from across Africa, including Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Liberia and Sudan, are attending the event which starts today and concludes on Friday 24 May, along with senior government figures from other countries including Costa Rica, Haiti, Iraq and Tajikistan.

Armed men in hospitals, harassing patients; health facilities used to identify and apprehend enemies; clinics abandoned and hospitals destroyed. Overwhelmed emergency services, where medical staff are in terror of reprisals for having provided care for a patient; ambulances blocked from accessing the wounded, or held up for hours at checkpoints; entrenched animosities and divisions denying certain groups of people the medical assistance they need.