21 Mayo 2010, - La Coordinadora de Instituciones Privadas pro Niñas, Niños, Adolescentes, Jóvenes y sus Derechos, COIPRODEN con el propósito de visualizar los problemas que enfrentan la niñez en Honduras, promovió la visita al país de la experta independiente del Comité de Derechos del Niño de Naciones Unidas, Susana Villarán, quien estuvo promoviendo del 19 al 23 de abril la Convención de los Derechos del Niño y el cumplimiento de las recomendaciones emitidas por dicho Comité al Estado de Honduras. Villarán, de origen peruano y con una amplia trayectoria en el campo de los derechos humanos, es uno de los 18 miembros del Comité de Derechos del Niños de Naciones Unidas ademá...

20th May 2010, Bogota - Colombian civil society organisations gathered more than two million signatures to ask Congress to hold a referendum on a constitutional amendment that would make access to water a fundamental human right.But Congress gutted the draft referendum bill this week by eliminating the clause on water as a human right. The popular initiative "no longer exists, it was blocked," Rafael Colmenares, spokesman for the Committee in Defence of Water and Life, told IPS after the Tuesday, May 18 session in the lower house of Congress that approved major modifications in the bill presented by the civil society groups. The legislative debate on the referendum will continue. ...

14th May 2010, Santiago (IPS) - More than 60 percent of Chileans surveyed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are opposed to full equality between women and men, according to a new national report released by the agency on Friday.Pablo González, coordinator of the 2010 UNDP National Human Development Report from Chile, told IPS that the basic message of the study is the following: "Chile has made a great deal of progress with regard to gender equity, and people value this progress, but nonetheless, we have come up against entrenched pockets of resistance that will hinder further progress."Now it is important to tackle certain aspects resistant to change, which include the cou...

14th May 2010, Lima - The "Glass of Milk" Programme, created in 1985 in Peru to provide a nutritional supplement for the most vulnerable population, specifically children up to six years old and pregnant and nursing women, is undermined by poor oversight, according to an audit by the Comptroller General's Office.The programme has a budget of 136 million dollars a year, and a target population of 4.2 million people, including 2.8 million children under six. However, some of the potential beneficiaries are not getting their glass of milk, because of discrimination in the allocation of resources.For instance, in urban districts where five percent of the population are poor, the programme spends...