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A new flour mill offers unexpected respite from threats of violence in Sudan
Sudan
BLUE NILE STATE, Sudan – Haleema Ibrahim, 36, walked a few minutes back to her home in the village of Shanisha, in Sudan’s Blue Nile State, carrying a basket of freshly ground grains from a newly-built flour mill.
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“I will stand tall for my children”: Dozens of pregnant refugees give birth amid turmoil after fleeing to Armenia
VARDENIS, Armenia – "The doctors were pessimistic. They were convinced that my child would not survive,” said 28-year-old single mother Marta Asryan. “I was weak, bleeding – but I insisted that my son was going to…
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After a month of siege, bombardments and a health system obliterated, pregnant women in Gaza are caught in a catastrophe
Palestine, State of
GAZA, Palestine – “The working conditions in our hospital are catastrophic. We lack basic life necessities and we’re struggling with a severe shortage of water,” said Yasmine Ahmed, a midwife at Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’…
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“Hope arrived in the form of Rahna”: The life-saving work of midwives after the Afghanistan earthquake
Afghanistan
ZINDAJAN, Afghanistan – Early in the morning on 15 October, 20-year-old Hanifa felt them: The contractions that signalled her baby was on its way.
The timing was less than ideal. Just one week prior, a 6.3-…
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Relentless attacks, collapse of health and safety systems leave Gaza's women and girls facing “unthinkable challenges”
Palestine, State of
GAZA, Palestine – "I sleep on the streets, just like you found me. The situation is unbearable here,” a pregnant woman, due in just weeks, told UNFPA.
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Smoothing rough roads to reproductive health services in the Philippines
Philippines
GUINDULUNGAN, The Philippines – For many members of the indigenous Teduray tribe residing in the southern Philippines, going to the doctor means gearing up for a major journey.
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“They need someone to listen”: UNFPA supports essential psychosocial service delivery after deadly earthquakes in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
HERAT, Afghanistan – “I thought that somebody was shaking me. And then the roof collapsed.”
This is what 25-year-old Shamaiel from Naieb Rafi village, Afghanistan, recalled to midwife Nafisa Hotak following a 6.…
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“Race against death” amid relentless bombardment in Gaza, pregnant women tell UNFPA
Palestine, State of
GAZA, Palestine – “My baby was feeling every explosion,” a pregnant woman from northern Gaza told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, from the school where she is currently sheltering. The…
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Sudan’s women and girls endure six months of conflict with no end in sight
KHARTOUM, Sudan – Lubna still remembers the sound of shelling in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, six months ago. The 34-year old was, at the time, mother to six children and pregnant. “I was wondering how I can…
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Building a generation of leaders and empowering girls to be students, not brides, in Indonesia
Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia – What girls want for their futures matters. And, according to new survey data, what they want most is the chance to learn. The study, published 10 August 2023 by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn…
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“I miss my home”: Fleeing conflict, tens of thousands of women and girls cross into Armenia
Armenia
VAYOTS DZOR, Armenia – “I didn’t even know whether my parents were alive or not. It was a very difficult time,” said Mariam, a 16-year-old from Martakert in Karabakh.
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Afghanistan quake leaves most vulnerable – women and girls – in dire situation
Afghanistan
HERAT, Afghanistan – More than 12,000 people have been impacted by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake which struck on the morning of 7 October, with most of the severely injured believed to be women and children.
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