With a historic vote this month allowing gay couples to marry and adopt children, Argentina joined a vanguard of nations — nine, to be precise — granting gays and lesbians these rights. It's a stunning development on a continent where not long ago such a bold measure would have been unthinkable.

Only the legalization of abortion anywhere in Latin America would be more momentous.

More than six months after Port-au-Prince was leveled by the January 12 earthquake, hundreds of thousands of displaced women and girls live in fear of rape in tent cities that lack lighting, privacy and security.

The Minister for Women and Children Affairs (MOWAC), Hon. Juliana Azumah- Mensah, says since 2002 her Ministry has been involved in the promotion of the economic rights of women by providing them with economic opportunities to improve their livelihood, thus, access to micro credit and small loans, provision of Agro processing equipment, skill training and information sharing.

Women who have fled Burma to escape what they describe as systematic violence against women by the military have banded together to help other survivors.

Last week, their work was recognized by the Peter Gruber Foundation, which awarded them $200,000 and the 2005 International Women's Rights Prize. The award was given jointly to the Shan Women's Action Network and the Women's League of Burma.

It has been three years since the report ''License to Rape" exposed to the world how troops of the Burmese military regime have been committing systematic sexual violence against women in Shan state, one of the ethnic regions of Burma where civil war has been continuing for more than four decades.

Dulce Junior is a Timorese 36-year old mother of two boys. As many other women around the world, she manages her time between her family and her job. Since 2008, she was a planning and implementation officer and recently has been promoted as the Chief of Department for the Local Development Programme (LDP) at the Ministry of State Administration (MSATM) of Timor-Leste.

As a girl, Laura Pina was not expected to slave in the kitchen simply by virtue of her gender. Then she got married.

Man Up, a provocative campaign to convince men to fight violence against women, kicked off in South Africa during the World Cup. Dayo Olopade reports from Johannesburg.

The 15th African Union Summit is underway in Kampala. The theme of the meeting -- “Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa” – reflects the commitment of the Maputo Plan of Action endorsed by African heads of state four years ago.