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Myanmar’s “red angel” midwives prepare to bring care to displaced women in Rakhine
Myanmar
YANGON, Myanmar – Twenty-three-year-old Ma Thae Ei Phyu is one of five “red angel” midwives to participate in a recent UNFPA-supported intensive training programme at a maternity ward on the outskirts of the Myanmar…
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In Nigeria, fight against fistula points to problem of early marriage
Nigeria
ABUJA, Nigeria – Since her marriage at age 14, Zuera Mustapha, now 21, has experienced two stillbirths and a recurrent obstetric fistula. Yet even with these hardships, she has been luckier than some; her mother and…
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In Nepal, fight against obstetric fistula marches on
Nepal
DHARAN, Nepal – Dhani Devi Mukhiya remembers the days when her relatives shunned her in public and her husband threatened to bring home another wife. For some of the villagers in her community in Nepal, the obstetric…
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A new lease on life for women living with obstetric fistula in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan – “I was 15 years old when I got married, and my husband was 22. My sister-in-law saw me at one of my relative’s wedding and made all the arrangements for her brother to have me,” Sharifa recalls.…
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Holding out a hand: Youth-to-youth initiative making a difference in Mongolia
Mongolia
ZAVKHAN PROVINCE, Mongolia – “Y-Peer saved my life. For that, I am so thankful,” says Oyuka, recalling a time when she contemplated suicide. That was before Enkhbat, an educator with the youth peer education programme Y…
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In South Sudan, 200,000 pregnant women may need urgent care
South Sudan
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Amid escalating conflict, some 30,000 women in South Sudan are at risk of dying in childbirth, according to estimates by UNFPA, and 200,000 pregnant women will be in need of urgent care before…
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Côte d’Ivoire rolls out campaign to reduce adolescent pregnancies
Côte d'Ivoire
ABIDJAN, Côte d'Ivoire – Faced with alarming numbers of adolescent pregnancies, the Government of Côte d'Ivoire, with support from UNFPA, the United Nations Fund for Population, launched a national campaign to…
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‘Lost Children’ Reveal Need to Support Families – and Women
Uganda
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Gladys Kalibbala, a journalist in Uganda, knows what loss looks like. She has seen it hundreds of times, in the faces of children without homes and in the desperation of mothers searching for…
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Tailoring Services to Nigeria’s Young People
Nigeria
ABUJA, Nigeria – Twenty-three per cent of Nigerian youth between ages 15 and 19 have already begun to have children, according to the country’s 2008 Demographic and Health Survey. But sexual and reproductive health…
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Georgia Youth Policy to Empower and Educate Youth
Georgia
TBILISI, Georgia – A new National Youth Policy adopted by the Government of Georgia is expected to make youth a development priority for the country. The policy recognizes – and commits to meeting – young people’s needs…
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The colour purple, changing the future of Afghan mothers
Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan – Purple is the colour that midwifery students proudly wear in a small but revolutionary school in the busy Afghan capital, Kabul. In a country where a woman dies every two hours from pregnancy-…
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Caught in crisis, South Sudanese women learn to plan their families
South Sudan
JUBA, South Sudan – Teresa Aruoth never knew she could use family planning to help space the births of her children. Married in her teenage years, she counts herself lucky to have remained healthy in a country where one…
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