SÃO PAULO, Jul 1, 2011  - In the last three years there have been no teen pregnancies among the youngsters at Casa do Zezinho, an extracurricular educational and cultural facility in Brazil attended by 1,500 children and young people from favelas or shantytowns on the south side of São Paulo. A unique experiment in the sex education workshops has helped prevent teen pregnancy, a problem that tends to lead to school dropout and fuels poverty. Three years ago, a few boys and girls between the ages of 15 and 20 were selected to be the "pregnant" ones in class, and to wear a plastic belly for a few months that grows as the pregnancy advances. The selected youngsters miss out on ...

BUENOS AIRES, Jun 24, 2011 - Although Argentina's immigration law is regarded as one of the most progressive in Latin America, xenophobia and discrimination persist, showing that progress is still more theoretical than practical.Discrimination against foreigners, which cannot be eradicated by words on paper, is experienced by thousands of immigrants in government offices, streets, workplaces, schools and hospitals in Argentina, in spite of the law that recognises everyone's right of free access to all public services. "I often go by the hospital, and it's full of Peruvians and Paraguayans taking the place of Argentines," a woman who says she can recognise "the accents" of patients...

Asunción, 8 de Junio, 2011 - En su última asamblea, la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH), máxima instancia en derechos humanos del hemisferio sur - organismo que forma parte de la OEA, nombró como integrante a la paraguaya Rosa María Ortíz, de amplia trayectoria en derechos humanos, con énfasis en infancia y adolescencia. Rosa María ejercerá las funciones por cuatro años, a partir 1 de enero de 2012, junto a Tracy Robinson, de Jamaica; Felipe González, de Chile, y  Rose-Marie Bella Antoine, de Belice, quienes también han sido electos como nuevos integrantes de la CIDH. Ortiz destacó su objetivo de poner la prevención como prioridad y darle un rol central...

BUENOS AIRES, May 30, 2011  - Food shortages may be causing hunger in the developing world, but the large Latin American agricultural countries that belong to the Group of 20 (G20) see the situation as an opportunity to exploit.This became clear at a working meeting on commodities held by the G20 on May 19-20 in Buenos Aires, where economy and agriculture ministers discussed today's soaring food prices. The meeting was organised to address the causes of the new upward trend in food prices, including the growing demand in China and India, financial speculation and growing production of biofuels. The concern was raised by France, which currently holds the rotating presidency of...