Blog

Beatriz wants to live, but she is being denied a life-saving medical intervention. Sign our petition asking the Supreme Court to permit the abortion she has requested. Together, we could help save a life.

Angelina Jolie’s recent op-ed about her brave decision to undergo a double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer hit home on many levels. The decision to pursue such a life-saving and, yes, invasive procedure is not one taken lightly.

On April 22th I had the privilege to be part of the “Educate. Empower. Transform.” panel on the role of girls’ education in the developing world hosted by the Simmons School of Management Center for Gender in Organizations in conjunction with Simmons Institute for Leadership and Change.

On April 5, 2013 the reproductive health world believed it was a momentous day, with a move towards equity in contraception, when Federal District Judge Edward Korman ordered the FDA to remove the previous age restriction on emergency contraction within 30 days.

Heran Abebe is a Senior Gender Advisor for Pathfinder’s Integrated Family Health Program (IFHP) in Ethiopia. In this Q&A Heran shares her thoughts on why gender is important in Ethiopia, how she was first drawn to gender work, and IFHP’s exciting gender initiatives on the horizon.

Recently, Pathfinder International released a new video Female Condoms Are…My Power, My Protection, My Pleasure as part of a film contest about female condoms. Winners of the international contest will be announced at Women Deliver 2013 this May in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Celia, a maternal and child health nurse in the Machava Area of Mozambique, knows what empowerment looks like. She sees it in the faces of the women she serves when she hands them a female condom.

Last week, Theresa Leone Meyer stood before a special session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women—an adolescent girl speaking on behalf of the millions of girls whose needs aren’t all that different from her own.

Christy Turlington Burns is the founder of Every Mother Counts, a campaign dedicating to ending the hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths linked to pregnancy and childbirth that happen every year around the world. Prior to her work with Every Mother Counts, Christy directed and produced "No Woman, No Cry", a documentary about the state of maternal health for mothers worldwide. As a part of "No Woman, No Cry", Christy dared to share her personal experience with postpartum hemorrhage, a condition that claims the lives of nearly 350,000 mothers every year.

The idea of a solar suitcase was born in Nigeria when American doctor Laura Stachel witnessed physicians performing an emergency cesarean section on a woman even after the lights went out. In countries like Nigeria, giving birth can be a risk to both the life of the mother and her child for a myriad of reasons. Giving birth is even riskier without dependable access to adequate lighting and the electricity that supports it.

The calendar is overflowing with occasions to mark. It seems like there's a special day for almost everything. For example, September 19 is celebrated by some as International Talk Like a Pirate Day. But the surplus of observances shouldn't detract from the really important ones, like Friday, March 8, International Women's Day.

Jill Sheffield is the founder and President of Women Deliver, an international advocacy organization dedicated to advancing political action around and investment in maternal health. Jill is a tireless advocate for women’s health who credits her time spent in a Kenyan maternity hospital as the inspiration for her work. Jill’s daring work has been a contributing factor to increased international attention to maternal mortality, an area of continued need given the stalled progress on lowering maternal mortality.

It's no newsflash: women are daring to change the world. Nearly every day there are headlines, from Malala Yousafzai in Pakistan to Hillary Clinton in the US, detailing accomplishments from courageous women of all ages and backgrounds.

I can’t remember the last time I was this excited to read so many books—and I’m a pretty voracious reader. Just in time for Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, here are three books about the state of the world’s women—two from international leaders and one from a US business executive. All showcase the importance of fighting for change.

Pathfinder Board Member Sharon Allison has been a lifelong reproductive health advocate. Dissatisfied with maintaining the status quo, Sharon has dared to lead. Lending her voice to issues of crucial importance like women’s rights and reproductive health, Sharon fights for an even playing field, not just for the women in her community, but for women worldwide.

Susan Akajo Oregede has dedicated the past several years of her life to changing gender norms in Uganda, daring to challenge resistance, tradition, and even her community’s leaders to address issues like women’s equality, gender-based violence, and adolescent sexuality.

Nafis Sadik has been called one of the most powerful women in the world. One of the greatest women’s advocates of the twentieth century, Nafis is an obstetrician, author, mother, and global thought leader who, for decades, has emphasized the importance of sexual and reproductive health and rights as a means to women’s empowerment.

Pinki Kumari’s life has not been without its challenges. Staying in school meant overcoming financial and societal barriers. She lost her husband at a young age and struggled to support herself because of cultural and religious restrictions that limit her mobility as a woman in India. Against all odds, Pinki not only dared to find her own voice, but found her passion in helping others find theirs.

For Jessie Jenkins, a trip to Ethiopia meant a fresh perspective on reproductive health. As an activist for reproductive rights, she always understood the importance of this compelling cause, but seeing women being empowered firsthand stuck with her.

I grew up in a household where dinner conversations often centered on solutions to the social inequities that foster gender-based health disparities—the cornerstone of our work here at Pathfinder.