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In Angola, young people help shatter the stigma around comprehensive sexuality education
Angola
LUANDA, Angola – Silvia Francisco, 31, was struggling with a dilemma. She was concerned about a family member who wasn’t seeking the medical treatment she urgently needed, because she feared being ostracized if anyone…
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Lives of pregnant women and newborns at risk in Sudan as hospitals run out of fuel
Sudan
KHARTOUM, Sudan – “We are running out of fuel. If the electricity cuts persist, we don’t know how we will be able to assist pregnant women giving birth a week from now,” said Sarah, a midwife at the Ombada Hospital in…
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“We are making a difference”: Advocating against period poverty and female genital mutilation in The Gambia
Gambia
BASSE, The Gambia – “When a girl starts to menstruate, that's when the problems usually start,” said Ndeye Rose Sarr, UNFPA’s representative in The Gambia.
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Restoring hope, rebuilding lives: A day in the life of a fistula surgeon in Zambia
Zambia
NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCE, Zambia – Around the world, half a million women and girls are thought to be living with obstetric fistula, a serious childbirth injury that can cause incontinence and result in significant…
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Prevention, treatment, reintegration and advocacy: How UNFPA and partners work to end obstetric fistula
Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar
UNITED NATIONS, New York – According to an African proverb, “the sun should not rise or set twice on a labouring woman”.
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Youth-friendly services scaling up in Kazakhstan, offering critical sexual and reproductive health care
Kazakhstan
ALMATY, Kazakhstan – "It was my first time with my boyfriend. We didn’t use a condom,” 17-year-old Amina* told UNFPA at one of the youth-friendly health centres in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s biggest city.
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“Why are we excluded?": UNFPA distributes dignity kits to transgender women in Bangladesh following disastrous flooding
Bangladesh
NETROKONA/SUNAMGANJ, Bangladesh – “During the flood, everyone in my village ran to seek shelter,” Ananya, a transgender woman, told UNFPA in 2022. “But we were not allowed to stay at the same shelter.”
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UNFPA mobile clinic helps women give birth safely during crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
NORTH KIVU PROVINCE, Democratic Republic of the Congo – “We heard gunshots and fled. I was seven months pregnant,” said Tantine, a 30-year-old mother of five children from Rusayo, in the North Kivu province.
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3 months on from the earthquakes, 5 reasons women and girls in Syria and Türkiye still need your support
Panama, Syrian Arab Republic, Türkiye
SYRIA/TÜRKIYE – “I feel very broken. I’m trying to hold on for the sake of my children, because they are extremely exhausted after the earthquake – I don’t want anything to disturb them anymore.”
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As catastrophe grips Sudan, heroic midwives help women deliver babies in a warzone
Sudan
KHARTOUM, Sudan – “We are working all day every day across three hospitals. For women and girls who don’t have means of transportation, we go to their homes to ensure they give birth safely,” said Insaf, a midwife…
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Four reasons to stand up for mothers this Mother’s Day
UNITED NATIONS, New York – For many mothers around the world, the month of May is an annual moment for them to receive thanks and recognition for all they do.
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“I have never seen so many pregnant women in this situation”: Survivors of Tropical Cyclone Freddy face Mozambique’s worst cholera outbreak in two decades
ZAMBEZIA PROVINCE, Mozambique – Tropical Cyclone Freddy and widespread flooding have swept through Mozambique, killing 183 people and leaving more than 640,000 homeless. Making matters worse, in the aftermath of the…
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