From Teen Pregnancy To HIV, Malawi’s Youth Radio Shows Tackle Taboos
When Doreen Sakala fell pregnant as a 15-year-old schoolgirl in Malawi, she felt alone and worried about her future – until one day she switched on the radio. She was stunned to hear young people discussing the educational challenges faced by pregnant teenagers in the southeastern African country, where youth-led radio is helping tackle taboos […]
Strict Laws Drive West African Women to Dangerous, Illegal Abortions
From crowded cities to far-flung villages, women with unwanted pregnancies across West Africa are resorting to clandestine and unsafe abortions – driven by shame, stigma and restrictive laws. Many pregnant women and girls in the region seek abortions from untrained practitioners in unhygienic surroundings or self-induce using desperate methods, ranging from drinking bleach to inserting […]
Sierra Leone: Female Lawyer Wants Abortion Included As a Right in the New Constitution
Female Barrister and Solicitor Mariama Dumbuya (Ms) has appealed to her fellow campaigners to continue to push for the passing of the Safe Abortion Act into law notwithstanding the possibility of its inclusion in a referendum. The former President of L.A.W.Y.E.R.S, who had earlier written a letter to His Excellency President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma […]
Nestle Sets Up Online Platforms for Expectant Mothers
Nestlé has launched facebook pages where parents and mothers-to-be can source guidance and expert advice on good nutrition for their babies. Nestlé’s new Start Healthy Stay Healthy Facebook pages are available in Ghana and Nigeria. Philippe Hascoet, Country Business Manager for Nestlé Nutrition in Central and West Africa said the online social platforms, which are […]
Uganda: Sterilisation of HIV-Positive Women
Kampala — Mayimuna Monica* has been living with HIV for over 10 years and wants to have a baby. But she can’t because her uterus was removed against her will at a government hospital where she had gone to deliver her last child now aged eight. “My uterus was removed in 2007. When I got […]
Kenya: Gang-Raped and Nowhere to Turn
Nairobi — Owuor P.’s 16-year-old sister Nekesa tried and tried to get an abortion after she was gang-raped and found herself pregnant during Kenya’s post-election violence in 2007-8. “We are not sure how many raped her,” Owuor told me. “She told us that she saw three men rape her and then she lost consciousness. She […]
Maryam: 
Iyanuoluwa Isinkaye: 