In response to a New York Times report on the dearth of women enrolled in H.I.V. clinical trials, Ruth Merkatz, director of clinical development at the Population Council’s Center for Biomedical Research and former director of the Office of Women’s Health at the FDA, wrote a letter to the editor about the essential need for gender equality in clinical trials.

Vancouver, Thursday, June 6, 2019 – A new study, conducted by the Population Council and with Women Deliver, found a strong and consistent lifelong negative association between giving birth before age 18 and a woman’s economic empowerment. The research, previewed today at the Women Deliver 2019 Conference, the world’s largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights, and wellbeing of girls and women, points to the critical need to strengthen sexual and reproductive health and rights and expand economic opportunities for girls and women throughout their lives.

This week, the world comes together at the world’s largest conference on gender equality and health, Women Deliver 2019, to power progress for girls and women. It couldn’t come at a more critical time. As women’s rights are being eroded in the U.S. and around the world, it is the rising generation of girls who will feel the greatest burden.  

In an op-ed at Dawn, Population Council’s Pakistan Country Director Zeba Sathar illuminates the need to care more for women not just as mothers, but for the value they bring in every capacity including the home, family, and society.

Judith Bruce, Senior Associate and Policy Analyst at the Population Council, was named a “Champion of Change” in UNFPA’s 2019 State of the World Report.

A recent episode of The Economist Radio and Intelligence podcast explores the shifting pattern of child marriage in Ethiopia, and the gaps that remain to ending the practice.

A new feature at Scientific American explores the need for continued research and development for new contraceptive methods that meet the needs of both women and men.

Last week, the Population Council and colleagues who play critical roles in providing contraceptives and other reproductive health supplies convened in Kathmandu, Nepal at the 19th Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition Membership Meeting. Members discussed and shared the latest updated on efforts to ensure that all people in low- and middle-income countries can access and use affordable, high-quality supplies to ensure their better reproductive health.

Read on for a summary of recommendations around the introduction of a vaginal contraceptive ring for breast-feeding women in Nigeria that the Population Council and partners shared during sessions throughout the meeting.