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Rwanda was the proud host of the second international MenCare+ partnermeeting in May 2014.

From 7 to 11 April, the 47th session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) is held in New York. This is a yearly conference that monitors, reviews and assesses the implementation of the agreements made at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, Egypt. These agreements are set out in the Programme of Action (PoA), which is a rights-based development framework.

I really need to write down my thoughts and reflections, cause I’m afraid I will lose it if I don’t start to download and share it soon. To free some space on my hard drive and to inform you on what’s going on inside of me.

Providing girls and women universal access to affordable female condoms will not only prevent them from contracting STI’s and unintended pregnancies, but also improve their position by giving them control over their own body.

Kampala, Uganda - Today nearly half of the World’s population – around 3 billion people- are under the age of 25. As these young people become sexually active, sexual and reproductive health services are under increasing pressure.

In a world of adult concerns, young people are often overlooked. While the number of young people will continue to rise in coming years, countries that meet youth’s needs now will be in a far better position by the second half of the century. These are some of the key points of UNFPA's State of the World Population Report 2014 The power of 1.8 Billion: Youth and the Transformation of the Future.

With a quarter of the world’s population under 24 years old and 90 percent of them living in developing countries, now is the time to invest in the sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people. Only that way developing economies will be able to reap the benefits of the demographic dividend. This was the message of Young People and the Transformation of the Future, an interactive afternoon held in The Hague on November 18.

Last week in Nairobi, Kenya, a young lady wanted to get inside a matatu – a minibus commonly used for public transport in East Africa. Before she knew what was happening to her, she was stripped naked by a group of men. Tossed around, hands tearing her clothes and grabbing and touching skin and intimate body parts. Her miniskirt and top were shredded until nothing was left but her underwear. It was all filmed and shared across Kenya and the world.

On the 10th of December, we celebrate Human Rights Day which marks the end of this year’s 16-day campaign (#16Days) to eliminate violence against women. It is a bitter-sweet day. Even where human rights treaties and standards address gender based violence and protect women's rights, national laws dictate the daily lives of women.

“Is it worth spending money on female condoms?” That is the question Rutgers, one of the UAFC partners, asked Global Health Visions (GHV). GHV wrote a business case. They analysed the impact of female condom programmes based on cost effectiveness models, health and economic impact modeling, and stakeholder interviews. Data from current female condom programmes by PSI affiliates in Cameroon, Nigeria, Myanmar and Kenya were used.

For youth between the ages of 10 and 24 years living in Africa, Asia and South America, a better future lies ahead: a better future in relation to sexual and reproductive health and rights. This is the aim of the new strategic partnership between Minister Ploumen and Rutgers, Hivos, Choice, Dance4life and three regional networks in the South.

Imagine you could only have safe sex nine times a year. At other times you would have to control yourself, or just accept the risks. This is the reality in sub-Sahara Africa where only nine condoms a year are available for each sexually active man or woman, not to mention that only one female condom per year is available for every eight women!

The Cypriot Ministry of Education intends to develop policy on the issue of the sexual resilience of young people with a learning disability. Various parties in Cyprus are currently engaged in debate on the matter. This is one of the results of Keep Me Safe, a European exchange project in which Rutgers has been participating for the past two years. Its objective was to empower young Europeans with a learning disability to protect themselves against sexual abuse and violence. In addition, however, it was designed to assist their environment, including parents, institutions and schools, in offering these vulnerable young people support in this area.

These weeks gender equality activists and advocates from all over the globe are coming together in New York city where from 9 to 20 March the 59th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women is gathering. As Rutgers has ECOSOC status, we are allowed to speak in the plenary meeting.

It’s one of the busiest periods for international Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights advocates. In a few weeks time, 13-17 April 2015, the 48th session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development will take place in New York. Rutgers is intensely involved in this conference. This year with advocate Merel Heilmann in the Dutch government delegation, Yvonne Bogaarts and advocate Rineke van Dam supporting more than 15 partners from Africa, Asia and the Arab region to influence the outcome of the conference. To follow the activities of Merel, Yvonne, Rineke and all the partners in the coming weeks, you better know what’s at stake…

A letter to the editor signed by Rutgers, together with 85 other organisations, was published in the Economist on 11 April. The letter is a response to three articles on the Sustainable Development Goals which were published in the international business weekly on 28 March.

Netherlands Minister of Social Affairs, Mr. Asscher, received the Dutch country report of State of the World’s Fathers at a daycare centre in Amsterdam on the morning of 17 June.

We welcome the fact that Population is again a subject of debate in the Netherlands. In recent months, the media focussed regularly on population growth in Africa, mostly in relation to the flow of refugees to Europe and to regional instability. We did, however, miss attention to an issue that is at the core of population growth: the lack of reproductive Freedom of Choice, i.e. the freedom to choose when, with whom and how many children one would like to have. That is why we call out for Freedom of Choice for all!

UNESCO has marked a milestone in its efforts to equip young people in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) with the knowledge needed to change the discourse of the HIV epidemic forever.

There is not a day that goes by that we don't hear about the high rate of HIV/AIDS or teen pregnancies amongst young people in the news in Nigeria. Now several countries and programs have shown that improving young people's access to sexual and reproductive health information and services can help to change the situation. But, as also the United Nations Commission on Life Saving Commodities reports states, 'too often, affordable, effective medicines and simple health supplies don’t reach the women who need them.'