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Former child bride, once sold to pay debts, finds a new start
Iraq
Intisar* was only 15 years old her parents sold her to another family to pay off a debt.
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As pandemic rages, women and girls face intensified risks
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages around the world, governments are taking unprecedented measures to limit the spread of the virus, ramping up health system responses and announcing movement restrictions affecting millions…
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In climate change-affected Lesotho, self-injected contraceptives empower women to choose their own future
Lesotho
Regina Mokoena has seen first-hand how drought and climate change are increasing the demand for family planning in her village.
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“We must resolutely resist any attempts to go back”: Listening to the icons and activists of women’s rights
The eighth of March is International Women’s Day, and the stakes could not be higher.
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As COVID-19 continues to spread, pregnant and breastfeeding women advised to take precautions
Pregnant women should take routine preventative actions to avoid infection with the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), UNFPA announced in a statement today. Little is currently known about the vulnerability of pregnant…
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Better suicide prevention and mental health care needed among Myanmar’s most vulnerable
Myanmar
Globally, a person dies from suicide every 40 seconds. In Myanmar, conflict and crisis may leave young people at increased vulnerability.
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Protecting midwives on the front lines of the Ebola response
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo remains in the grip of the world’s second largest Ebola epidemic on record, and among those most at risk are health workers.
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Maternal deaths declining in Morocco thanks to midwives, but more support needed
Morocco
Madame Najat Baloui, a midwife in Casablanca, vividly remembers a childbirth that went horribly wrong. “A woman was delivering vaginally,” Ms. Baloui recalled. “After several hours, the labour stopped suddenly.”
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UNFPA seeks to reach 48 million women and girls in humanitarian crises
Yemen
When Yemen’s unrelenting conflict arrived in Taizz City late last year, Ashwaq saw her neighbourhood fall to pieces. Amid the bombardments, her house caught fire. She, her husband and their four children – including a…
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Pregnant women, survivors of violence at risk in West Darfur clashes
Sudan
Deadly clashes in West Darfur have uprooted tens of thousands of people from their homes. Reliable sources indicate that widespread gender-based violence is taking place, and thousands of pregnant women require urgent…
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In war-torn Yemen, life-threatening pregnancy complication finds a happy ending
Yemen
Amani was delighted to be pregnant. Then she experienced a life-threatening complication.
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Kazakhstan adolescents demand information to avoid teenage pregnancies
Kazakhstan
UNFPA surveys show that teenagers in the country want to learn more about contraception.
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