Cultural benefits and practices such as son preference, pregnancy and childbirth taboos, traditional contraceptive and abortion methods, sati, dowry killings and patriarchy have been identified as problems which hold back the improvement of women’s health, especially their reproductive health. More traditional religious views and practices of Islam and Christianity regarding sexuality, abortion, contraception and the […]

There is still a long way to go before the recommendations of the International Conferenceon Population and Development (ICPD)in Cairo 1994 are known, understood and acted upon primarily by government, international agencies and donor organisations in Asia and the Pacific.This was one of the main conclusions of a regional research project Changes in Population Policies […]

In a region where women continue to be valued less than men, older women’s health reflects their life-long experience of discrimination, deprivation and neglect. The older women of Asia-Pacific today face similar situations of poverty, malnutrition, poor health care, physical overwork and unhealthy work environments in their younger years. Along with high infant mortality rates, […]

NGO perspectives on what is critical to improving the further implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action are clear, with much commonality throughout the regions including Asia and the Pacific. These have been articulated through a review process which has included national discussions and NGO meetings, regional NGO consultations, and several international meetings including the […]

“Globally, the largest share of adolescents is and will continue to be in Asia, which has 60 per cent of the world’s population”. And “at 1.05 billion, today’s is the biggest-ever generation of young people between 15 and 24, and this age group is rapidly expanding in many countries”. However, in assessing commitments made since […]

Incest, coerced pregnancy, mass rape, ethnic cleansing, forced prostitution, date rape, marital rape, gang rape, rape in conflict situations and rape as a weapon of war- are not about violent sex but power or sexual violence. That one out of every five women is a survivor of rape constitutes the prevalence of rape globally, and […]

The 1980s and 1990s have witnessed rapid and complex global changes- economic, political, cultural and technological- that have greatly influenced almost every aspect of human life including gender relations. The most significant of these globalisation trends include: (1) the rise of a global economic order that opens up financial markets to free flows of commodities […]

The development and implementation of National Reproductive Cancer Screening policies and programmes is an urgent priority in the area of reproductive health in Asia and the Pacific. Most women in both industrialised countries and poorer countries of the region have never had a pap smear test for cervical cancer or any education on how to […]

A collection of key papers and articles.