In 2008 the number of African women who died from pregnancy and child birth was much higher than the number of casualties from all the major conflicts in Africa combined. Maternal mortality continues to be the major cause of death among women of reproductive age (15-49) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Most of these women die from complications that can often be effectively treated in a health system that has adequate skilled personnel, a functioning referral system and can respond to obstetric emergencies when they occur.

© UNFPA, WEDO14 October 2009: The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), together with the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), has launched a resource kit on climate change connections, focusing on gender and population and advocating that women are uniquely positioned as innovators, educators, caretakers, leaders and agents of change to address the risks of a changing climate.

The resource kit provides policy guidance, finance and adaptation plans, advocacy tools and best practices related to increasing educational opportunities for girls, economic opportunities for women, and access to reproductive health and family planning, recognizing their role in reducing vulnerability to climate change. Women, population and climate change are the focus of the UNFPA's flagship report, State of World Population, to be released on 18 November 2009. UNFPA Resource Kit: Climate Change Connections - Gender and Population https://www.unfpa.org/public/site/global/lang/en/pid/4028

This publication from GTZ can be used as an instrument for the application of concepts, approaches and methods for transforming unequal gender relations. Each topic is introduced by a short outline of the issue, followed by subsequent steps of action. A project example illustrates the application of the method in a selected sociocultural context.

From the introduction:

Factors associated with attitudes towards intimate partner violence against women: A comparative analysis of 17 sub-Saharan countries.

Background: Violence against women, especially by intimate partners, is a serious public health problem that is associated with physical, reproductive and mental health consequences. Even though most societies proscribe violence against women, the reality is that violations against women's rights are often sanctioned under the garb of cultural practices and norms, or through misinterpretation of religious tenets.

This Handbook sets forth standards for the integration of gender issues from the outset of a new complex emergency or disaster, so that humanitarian services provided neither exacerbate nor inadvertently put people at risk; reach their target audience; and have maximum positive impact.

Authors: Brown,L.; Lambrou,Y.; Birner,R.
Produced by: International Fund for Agricultural Development (2008)

This sourcebook combines descriptive accounts of national and international experience in investing in agriculture with practical operational guidance on to how to design agriculture-for-development strategies that capitalise effectively on the unique properties of agricultural growth and rural development involving women and men as a high-impact source of poverty reduction.

Final Report to the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health

Women and Gender Equity Knowledge Network

Submitted by Gita Sen and Piroska Östlin Co-coordinators of the WGEKN1

"...Gender inequality damages the physical and mental health of millions of girls and women across the globe, and also of boys and men despite the many tangible benefits it gives men through resources, power, authority and control.

Poor women's limited access to resources, restricted rights, limited mobility and muted voices in shaping decisions make them highly vulnerable to climate change. This resource guide aims to inform practitioners and policy makers of the linkages between gender equality and climate change.

UNDP Website - Women's publications