News story
Breaking the cycle for survivors: UNFPA offers counselling and support to abandon female genital mutilation in Yemen
Yemen
HADRAMOUT GOVERNORATE, Yemen – “I lost my baby in front of my eyes,” said Safia*, a young woman from a remote village in Hadramout, Yemen. Safia’s marriage had been arranged for her 21st birthday. One year later, she…
Read story
News story
“I must continue fighting to keep her in school”: Following the Ruta de los Sueños bus to prevent teen pregnancy across Honduras
Honduras
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – “I want to be a doctor.” “I want to be an engineer.” “I want to be an artist.” These are just a few of more than 5,000 dreams that teenagers have shared on the Ruta de los Sueños bus.
Read story
News story
“I have my life back”: How one mother in Senegal is thriving after obstetric fistula
Senegal
TAMBACOUNDA, Senegal – “After giving birth, I developed a fistula and my life was turned upside down,” said Khady* at her home in the village of Koumpentoum, deep in Senegal’s southern Tambacounda region.
Read story
News story
Heroes in pink: Lao midwives supporting rights and saving lives
Lao People's Democratic Republic
XIENG KHOUANG PROVINCE, Lao People’s Democratic Republic – “I can’t wait to graduate and become a practising midwife. I am passionate about deliveries and I love babies a lot,” said 20-year-old midwifery student Aspy…
Read story
News story
One year on, Joint Innovation Challenge winners keep up the fight against gender-based violence
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Ending gender-based violence will take commitment, compassion and, as demonstrated by the winners of the 2022 Joint Innovation Challenge, resourcefulness and creativity too.
News story
Supporting survivors of sexual assault in Ethiopia, and working to stop violence before it starts
Ethiopia
BULE HORA CITY, Ethiopia – Ayantu* was 14 when she was betrayed by someone society had taught her to trust.
Read story
News story
A glimmer of hope for women and girls as a sexual and reproductive health clinic reopens in Sudan’s West Darfur State
Sudan
WEST DARFUR STATE, Sudan – “I came to the health centre after the fighting calmed down, but I found it destroyed – there were no beds left, no equipment, no supplies,” recalled Hiba*, a doctor in the city of El Geneina…
Read story
News story
“It's about our health and our future”: Ensuring sexual and reproductive health support in northern Mozambique
Mozambique
NIASSA PROVINCE, Mozambique – Early in the morning, queues begin to form outside the Lichinga health centre in Mozambique’s northwest Niassa province, as staff prepare to treat patients.
Read story
News story
Indigenous men advocate gender equality to benefit women – and men too
COMARCA NGABE BUGLE, Panama – Gender inequality is pervasive everywhere. Globally, 9 in 10 people around the world, both women and men, continue to harbour gender biases, according to a recent United Nations report.…
Read story
News story
Tackling the hidden mental health crisis in Yemen
IBB GOVERNORATE, Yemen – “I wanted to be a midwife – midwives are respected. I thought being a midwife would give me the freedom to help and guide other women to have fulfilling lives,” Kholoud told UNFPA, the United…
Read story
News story
Midwives go door-to-door amid flooding in Peru, reaching thousands with critical health services
Peru
PIURA, Peru – In the first months of 2023, torrential rains flooded the streets of Veintiséis de Octubre in Peru’s northwestern Piura district, interrupting city services and trapping people in their homes. For 30-year-…
Read story
News story
Heroes amid crises – 8 stories of resilience and hope from 2023
UNITED NATIONS, New York – From droughts to floods, displacement and conflicts – the cycle of despair in 2023 seemed unstoppable. Yet in crisis after crisis, so were the accounts of the selfless and the heroic. As the…
Read story