The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | World | Tue, June 09 2015, 11:27 AM

Representatives from several Asian countries across South Asia have highlighted the need to gather improved national data on the prevalence of violence against women, in a workshop organized by the United Nations Population Fund Asia-Pacific Regional Office (UNFPA APRO) in Bangkok this week.

They also agreed to strengthen the evidence base to help governments formulate more effective strategies to tackle the issue.

UNFPA APRO ad interim regional director Lubna Baqi said key studies in the past, collating prevalence data from many countries around the world, estimated that at least one out of three women would experience physical or sexual violence at some point in her lifetime, often at the hands of their intimate partners, including their spouses.

“Many researchers feel the real number may be much higher," she said in a statement on Tuesday.

Baqi further said that although prevalence studies remained the best way to obtain such data, the data-gathering process must be strengthened and scaled up significantly.

"Moreover, women who experience violence must be able to report it to relevant authorities, as well as share their experiences with those conducting studies on violence against women, in a safe and enabling environment free of fear and intimidation," she pointed out.

UNFPA APRO has been pressing for robust and safe data collection on violence against women to support policies and programs in the region.

Manggar, CNN Indonesia — Bupati Belitung Timur Basuri Tjahaja Purnama berpendapat perlu adanya koordinasi antara beberapa kementerian terkait untuk membangun sistem data yang kuat demi kelancaran pengentasan kemiskinan.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, YOGYAKARTA –- Kesehatan remaja di DIY akan dimonitor lewat sekolah dengan memberikan “rapor kesehatanku”.

"Rapor tersebut untuk self assessment kesehatan remaja dan akan dimulai tahun depan dengan beberapa sekolah dulu sebagai pilot project," kata Kepala Bidang Kesehatan Keluarga Dinas Kesehatan DIY Ini Hikmatin baru-baru ini. Untuk pemilihan sekolahnya akan dilakukan bersama Dinas Pendidikan.

Rapor kesehatanku ini akan dimulai sejak anak SD.

Expansion should help save mothers' lives in many low- and middle-income countries, health experts say.

Al Jazeera America — The World Health Organization on Monday added a series of long-acting, hormonal contraceptives to the list of globally recommended birth control methods, which will significantly reduce mothers’ risk of dying during childbirth, experts say.

The WHO’s guidelines relax restrictions on the use of hormonal methods for breastfeeding women who are less than six weeks postpartum, according to researchers at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The guidelines are welcome in many poor countries, where the researchers hope policymakers and health industries will adopt the updated recommendations to battle high maternal death rates.

More than half of women in low- and middle-income countries (defined as nations with a gross national income less than $12,615 per capita) become pregnant within two years of a first birth, despite their desire to postpone pregnancy or not have another baby, according to a study in Contraception, a reproductive health journal.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — Ada 19,4 juta penduduk Indonesia yang masih menderita kelaparan setiap hari.

The goals on reducing child mortality and improving maternal health are closely related.