Live from Rio+20, Day Two: "Favelas and Protests"

This morning I ventured the opposite direction from Rio Centro where the UN Rio+20 negotiations are taking place, and travelled with colleagues to the Cachoeirinha (I was told it means “waterfall”) Favela in Rio de Janeiro. These shantytowns are quite common in Rio, well over one million strong, located within and around the city limits. This particular one has 37,000 residents. We made the trip to visit the BEMFAM reproductive health and family planning clinic there, and were treated to a gathering of youth already...

Live from Rio+20, Day One: Women and Reproductive Health

This week begins the major UN Rio+20 “Earth Summit”, and I’ve just arrived at the sprawling “Rio Centro” complex where the official UN negotiations and many non-governmental organizations’ (NGOs) side-events are taking place.  While here for the duration of the meeting, I’ll be covering women and reproductive health (RH) issues as relate to the official UN proceedings, the NGO perspectives, and global south women’s personal stories on how Rio+20 touches their lives.

The scene here at Rio Centro is...