News story
Engaging communities in Malawi to end child marriage and help girls finish school
Malawi, European Commission
“I had to go against some deeply-held traditions to persuade my people that girls need access to education, just like boys,” said village head Patete, watching as a group of girls walked to school in Malawi’s Machinga…
Read story
News story
Girls in Uganda report being lured across the border to undergo female genital mutilation
Kenya, Uganda
Fourteen-year-old Judith* and five other Pokot girls were lured across the border, into Kenya from Uganda, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The reason: To undergo female genital mutilation. The perpetrator: One…
Read story
News story
Compounding crises endanger women and girls amid Pakistan’s unprecedented flooding
Pakistan
Amid the worst-ever flooding Pakistan has ever faced, Guddi and her 8-month-old daughter, Akshara, are both struggling with hunger. Akshara was recently taken to a clinic to be treated for severe acute malnutrition, and…
Read story
News story
Health and violence risks multiply for women and girls in Kenya as worst drought in 40 years takes hold
Kenya
Chants of “Apei Apei ng’akankomwon ng’akan!” ring out from a group of women sitting under a tree. The words translate to “One, one, nine, five” – Kenya’s national gender-based violence helpline number.
Read story
News story
Soaring violence, fuel crisis and a cholera outbreak: Haiti in the grip of a “humanitarian catastrophe”
Haiti
As protection, health-care and essential services break down, the violence and volatile political and economic crisis engulfing Haiti has rapidly deteriorated into what the UN has described as a humanitarian catastrophe.
Read story
News story
Under increasing conflict and climate crises, young people’s mental health bears a heavy burden
“I remember walking in the cold for a very long time, scared of the explosions and tanks passing near our house,” said 12-year-old Malina, who was forced to flee her hometown of Odesa in Ukraine as the war closed in.
Read story
News story
Forced into early motherhood, a child rape survivor in the Comoros fights stigma to finish school
Comoros
“I followed him into the house. I didn’t know he was going to rape me.” At just 13 years old, Mariama* was sexually assaulted by a neighbour when she returned home from school: Nine months later, still a child herself,…
Read story
News story
In Lao PDR, midwives provide life-saving and culturally competent care to the country’s ethnic communities
Lao People's Democratic Republic
“In the past, Akha women gave birth without assistance and did not come to health centres. Most of the pregnancies were unsafe,” says 28-year-old midwife Vida Jepeu. Ms. Jepeu is a member of the Akha ethnic group, which…
Read story
News story
Women and girls in Pakistan need urgent health and protection services amid epic flood disaster
Pakistan
“I walked for about 35 kilometres while in labour because the floods had damaged the road between my village and the hospital,” said Bakhtnama Khairullah, 32, from Harnai in Balochistan province.
Read story
News story
Survivors of gender-based violence in Sri Lanka at risk as crucial protection services shutter
Sri Lanka
“When there is domestic violence, women need to stay in a safe house. But when one woman called me and asked for transport, I had to tell her we didn’t have enough funds to bring her to the shelter.” Francine Princey…
Read story
News story
On the border between Brazil and Venezuela, safe spaces offer hope and information
Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
“We’ve been told that our room conveys peace – the room and what is offered in it,” said Harlen Lamar. She is the leader of a UNFPA safe space for women and girls in Pacaraima, a city in northern Brazil that lies just…
Read story
News story
“Giving up is not an option”: Hope for Afghans forced out of school
Afghanistan
One year after the Taliban takeover, 17-year-old Mursal Fasihi is still in disbelief that she cannot go back to school. Once a dedicated student, Mursal – like all girls in secondary school – has been unable to return…
Read story