Laura Chinchilla. Credit: US Embassy, Costa Rica

By Danilo Valladares

GUATEMALA CITY, Mar 5, 2010 (IPS) – The victory of Laura Chinchilla in Costa Rica’s presidential elections, and the growing participation of women in Central American parliaments, point to their progress in the region’s spheres of political power. But they still have a long way to go, experts say. Continue Reading

By Emilio Godoy

SANTA MARÍA RAYÓN, Mexico, Feb 28, 2010 (IPS) – The lives of many rural women and children in Mexico are changing, and the country’s high deforestation rate could be reduced, as inexpensive fuel-efficient cook stoves are being distributed by non-governmental organisations with corporate and government support.
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Taina Bien-Aimé, Executive Director of Equality Now, briefs journalists at the UN. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 24, 2010 (IPS) – Nearly 62 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which proclaimed “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,” a few of the world’s discriminatory laws against women are being progressively repealed in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America.
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Protest for women's lives. Credit: Jfruh

By José Adán Silva

MANAGUA, Feb 15, 2010 (IPS) – Nicaragua slammed the door on any possible debate on the restitution of therapeutic abortion – performed to save the life of the pregnant woman – despite demands that it do so voiced during a United Nations review of human rights in the country.
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