Tuesday 3 July 2012

Mary Robinson: “What do celibate men know about the lives, health and the decisions of poor women?"

by Aoife O'Grady

In an interview with Brazilian paper 'O Globo', former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has criticised the Vatican's stance on the reproductive rights of women, asking the question “What do celibate men know about the lives, health and the decisions of poor women?” Ms. Robinson was referring to the Vatican's alleged influence in the removal of reference to women's reproductive rights from the outcome document at Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development which concluded on Friday.

Rio+20: Cities bring sustainability to sub-national level


by Lidija Grozdanić

Few urban settlements outside the South American continent exhibit such visible thirst for space as Brazil’s Cidade Meravilhosa. The vortex of mixtures and co-existing extremes, permeating all aspects of Rio de Janeiro’s life, creates an urban continuity glued together by a single unifying force – the desire to live in the city. Clinging to steep hill slopes, burdened by poverty and inadequate infrastructure,  informal settlements are pulsating tentacles of the urbanscape, reminding the Rio+20 participants of the urgency of addressing sustainable urbanization issues.