For the first time in her 30 years, a young woman named Miriam is experiencing the life-changing opportunity of an education free from fear. Since South Sudan emerged as an independent nation just a year ago today, she has become one, among thousands, who are pursuing a greater future. “I am pleased to congratulate the people of South Sudan on their very first Independence Day,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan E. Rice said […]

As we get closer to the London Summit on Family Planning, people often ask me, “Why is family planning so important to you?” The simple answer is that it can mean everything to so many of the women and families I meet. It means the difference between being empowered and feeling powerless. It means the difference between celebrating a daughter’s graduation and watching her drop out of school. It even means the difference between life

As a child growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I watched my mother go to work each day, dedicated to running our local women’s health clinic. A staunch defender of reproductive rights, she was armed with more than a team of medical experts, but also the kindness and wisdom that patients—many of them young women—relied on to prepare for the rest of their lives. Today, a grown adult with my own children, I see that the

  Florence Daka is a healthy mother of four who lives in Lusaka, Zambia. She sees her children off to school every morning and works a full day cleaning offices. That may not sound extraordinary, but it is. It’s extraordinary because Florence is alive and well and living with HIV, thanks to the effective treatment that she takes. What’s more, the medicines that Florence received during her last pregnancy helped her avoid transmitting HIV to

Over the span of three decades, humanity has witnessed the rise of one of the world’s deadliest diseases, and also launched one of history’s greatest global attacks. Just 30 years ago, AIDS was barely uttered in newspapers anywhere around the globe, let alone becoming a household term. Twenty years ago, AIDS became the number one cause of death for U.S. men ages 25 to 44. Ten years ago, HIV/AIDS had become the fourth biggest killer

Imagine a life where you live on less than two dollars a day.  You have been saving for months to afford a trip to the health clinic. With your payment in hand, you walk three hours to get to the nearest clinic, carrying your young children with you. When you finally arrive, you want to be able to receive information and testing for HIV and also pick up contraception to prevent pregnancy, but you’re told

As over 10,000 of the world’s greatest athletes convene in London for the 2012 Olympic Games, three truly stand out. It is not their athletic ability, their hours in training, or their love of competition that makes their stories unique —though certainly they shine in those categories, too. Rather, it is their triumphs in rising from histories of war and conflict to represent their nations with pride. As these athletes prepare to march in Friday’s

The United Nations Association of the USA website has a new look! With more than 12,000 members and 120 Chapters across the country advocating for a strong U.S.-UN relationship, our organization has a great story to tell. With the new unausa.org, we are more equipped to tell it. For those of you who don’t know, UNA-USA is a network of passionate volunteers dedicated to working with their local communities and elected officials to inform, inspire,