We might say that to be injured by pregnancy or through birthing at age 25 is extremely sad; that at the age of 30, it is deeply traumatic, or maybe, that at the age of 40, it is devastating. But what words should we apply when pregnancy injures -- for life -- a 10-, 11- or 12-year-old?

A new law that went into force on January 16 in the Philippines requires the government to meet the unmet need for voluntary family planning information and supplies, especially for the country's poorest people and marginalized groups.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) made headlines in November when its annual report referred to family planning as a "universal human right" and revealed a shocking 222 million who want and would use family planning services still lack vital access.

Aaround 222 million women, largely in the poorest countries, want to use modern family planning methods but can't access them. This has a seriously damaging impact not just on their lives, but on the health and strength of their families and communities.

Reproductive rights are human rights, but apparently not in the minds of House Appropriators.

We often forget that mothers need support too, but this Mother's Day can help us to focus on the lifeline that women extend to us.

At UNFPA, we work to make every pregnancy wanted, every child birth safe and to give every young person the opportunity to realize their full potential. Today, there are 500 million adolescent girls in the developing world. Their full potential has yet to be fulfilled.

Providing for the unmet need for family planning requires not only tearing down the barriers that women and adolescents face in their homes and communities, but also expanding the availability of quality information, supplies and services.

Access to family planning and other reproductive health services safeguard the lives of women and their children and promote families that are emotionally and economically healthy.

Violence against women and girls reflects and reinforces inequities between men and women and compromises the health, dignity, and security of its survivors.

If we truly value humanity, life and all that it represents in its highest form, then we need to do all that we can to promote quality of life over the quantity of life.

Being a real man means saying no to gender-based violence and discrimination, and respecting the rights of girls and women.

Given that Bangladesh is one of the countries in the world with the highest burden of maternal mortality rates, the latest news of significant improvement on that front gives me great hope.