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Mozambique programme empowers girls to fight gender inequality, child marriage
Mozambique
“We are equal to boys and can also contribute to society,” said 17-year-old Lidia Suale Saide. Lidia knows what it means to stand up for these beliefs. One year ago, she refused her mother’s attempt to marry her off.
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Mothers too young: Inequality fuels adolescent pregnancies in Thailand
Thailand
“I had plans for my life, but since I got pregnant I had to plan for my life in a different way,” said Fern*, 18. “If I knew this was going to happen, I would have just focused on my studies. I would not have bothered…
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Displaced by crisis, South Sudan midwifery students focus on saving mothers
South Sudan
Nyomon Lilian will never forget the day she decided to become a midwife. A few years ago, in her hometown of Kajo Keji, in South Sudan’s Equatoria region, she watched as her neighbour bled out after giving birth.
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Ethiopian women and girls see “remarkable results” in ending child marriage
Ethiopia
Not long ago, the sight of a 10-year-old bride was a common occurrence in Ethiopia’s Kolla Tembein District, said Daniel Hagos, the district’s chief administrator. But the community’s women and girls are mobilizing to…
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A safe pregnancy is every woman’s right: Midwifery care saves lives in Myanmar
Myanmar
Ngun Hlei was lucky to have seen a midwife during her third pregnancy. Many women in Myanmar don’t. “I felt very unwell for many months during that pregnancy. But what could I do? I carried on with my work making snacks…
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“I refused”: Brave women and girls take a stand against FGM
Latty's mom made a commitment to never subject her daughters to female genital mutilation. Today, advocate and singer Latty Compaoré is one of millions of girls around the world raising her voice to help end the…
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A vision of change: Pioneer spends 30 years advocating end to FGM in Sudan
Sudan
In the early 1980s, Abdullah Ali Abdullah saw constant infections and childbirth complications while volunteering in a health centre in Sudan’s North Kordofan state. He soon realized many of these issues had the same…
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Life interrupted: Myanmar teen pregnancy points to need for comprehensive sexuality education
Myanmar
Every year, almost 50,000 teenage girls in Myanmar give birth, according to data from the 2014 census. Thiri* was one of them. She became pregnant when she was only 15 years old.
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New clinic brings reproductive health care to Syria’s underserved Al-Tabqa
Syrian Arab Republic
A new reproductive health clinic has been opened in the embattled northern Syrian city of Al-Tabqa, which has been the site of intense fighting over the past five years. Access to Al-Tabqa remains difficult, with some…
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Empowering local first responders to reach refugee and migrant women
Greece
Two years ago, Greece became the centre of a refugee and migration crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people streaming into the country, many of them risking death to escape war, persecution and deprivation. In 2016…
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Women-friendly spaces offer safe haven for Congolese refugees in Angola
Angola
In a simple white tent in the Lóvua refugee settlement in Angola, women and girls who fled the brutal conflict in Kasai, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, can find safe haven and support.
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To tackle sexual violence in Lesotho, programme targets men and boys
Lesotho
“Before, I never used a condom, and I would force myself violently onto girls and young women,” said Kabelo, 22, in rural Lesotho.
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