%3Cp%3EAccess%20to%20clean%20water%2C%20a%20basic%20human%20right%2C%20has%20been%20an%20ongoing%20challenge%20for%20Indigenous%20Maasai%20Peoples%20in%20the%20Trans%20Mara%20District%20of%20Southwest%20Kenya.%20Climate%20change%20and%20environmental%20degradation%20have%20contributed%20to%20frequent%20droughts%2C%20and%20the%20Emayian%20Maasai%20community%20hasn%26rsquo%3Bt%20had%20the%20means%20to%20collect%20and%20store%20rainwater%20during%20the%20short%20rainy%20season.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

%3Cp%3EEven%20before%20the%20global%20food%20crisis%20of%202008%2C%20three-quarters%20of%20the%20population%20suffered%20from%20malnutrition%20on%20the%20North%20Atlantic%20Coast%20of%20Nicaragua.%26nbsp%3B%20People%20confront%20grinding%20poverty%2C%20extreme%20hunger%2C%20an%20unemployment%20rate%20of%2090%20percent%2C%20and%20a%20lack%20of%20electricity%2C%20clean%20water%2C%20and%20other%20basic%20services.%20Poverty%20and%20social%20disintegration%20are%20compounded%20by%20environmental%20degradation.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

%3Cp%3EOn%20the%20North%20Atlantic%20Coast%20of%20Nicaragua%2C%20Indigenous%20children%20die%20from%20easily%20preventable%20waterborne%20illnesses.%20The%20deadliest%20time%20is%20hurricane%20season%2C%20which%20stretches%20from%20June%20through%20December.%20Seasonal%20flooding%20carries%20raw%20sewage%20and%20other%20pollutants%20into%20the%20water%20supply.%20The%20dirty%20water%20brings%20diseases%20like%20typhoid%2C%20dysentery%20and%20cholera.%20With%20no%20access%20to%20clean%20water%20or%20healthcare%2C%20even%20a%20simple%20case%20of%20diarrhea%20can%20quickly%20become%20fatal.%20Most%20of%20the%20time%2C%20parents%20can%20only%20watch%20as%20their%20children%20sicken%20and%20die.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

%3Cp%3EWomen%20in%20Afghanistan%20are%20being%20targeted%2C%20attacked%2C%20and%20murdered%20for%20demanding%20their%20human%20rights.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAfghan%20women%20and%20girls%20are%2C%20by%20custom%20and%20practice%2C%20the%20property%20of%20men.%2087%25%20of%20women%20are%20illiterate.%20As%20many%20of%2095%25%20of%20Afghan%20women%20are%20brutalized%20in%20their%20homes.%2070%20to%2080%25%20face%20forced%20marriages%20--%20the%20legal%20age%20is%20sixteen%2C%20but%20girls%20as%20young%20as%20eight%20or%20nine%20are%20commonly%20sold%20to%20be%20wed.%20In%20the%20countryside%2C%20far%20from%20medical%20care%20these%20young%20girls%20die%20from%20injuries%20caused%20by%20beatings%20or%20the%20ordeal%20of%20childbirth%20at%20age%2012%20or%2013.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMADRE%20created%20the%20Afghan%20Women%26rsquo%3Bs%20Survival%20Fund%20to%20enable%20women%20who%20are%20threatened%20with%20violence%20to%20escape%20to%20safety.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20Fund%20supports%20an%20underground%20rescue%20network%20of%20women%20committed%20to%20providing%20shelter%20and%20secret%20transport%20to%20women%20who%20have%20been%20targeted%20because%20they%20dare%20to%20speak%20out%20for%20human%20rights.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

%3Cp%3EMany%20Afghan%20women%20are%20adamant%20that%20only%20they%20themselves%20can%20secure%20their%20rights%20and%20that%20human%20rights%20cannot%20be%20enforced%20by%20an%20occupying%20army.%20As%20activists%2C%20they%20face%20tremendous%20challenges%2C%20including%20an%20ongoing%20war%20and%20entrenched%20gender-based%20abuse%20that%20makes%20Afghanistan%20one%20of%20the%20most%20dangerous%20countries%20in%20the%20world%20to%20be%20a%20woman.%20Here%20are%20some%20of%20the%20conditions%20that%20Afghan%20women%20confront%20everyday%3A%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3EHealth%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EEducation%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EViolence%20Against%20Women%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A