News story
“What our daughter has done is a miracle” – the power of one adolescent girl
Zimbabwe
Three years ago, Sibongile Majaura was on the cusp of dropping out of school, a misfortune all too familiar to girls in Zimbabwe. But she has defied the odds.
Read story
News story
Fifty years after a terrible childbirth injury, Kenyan woman gets a new lease on life
Kenya
Decades ago, Jumwa Kabibu Kai was pregnant with her second child in the small village of Kidutani, Kenya. The area was poor and isolated – her nearest neighbour was 3 kilometres away – and there was no easy access to a…
Read story
News story
New rules to help end child marriage in Cameroon
Cameroon
“I was forced into marriage by my father at the age of 14,” Faouzia Yaya, now 17, told UNFPA. “My father insisted, even knowing I did not want it. I even ran away to my uncle’s place, but he still found me.”
Read story
News story
After harrowing escape, South Sudan woman welcomes healthy twins
South Sudan
Nyador Dagey, 35, was three months pregnant and bleeding from a gunshot wound when she fled her village in Rubkona County, in South Sudan’s in Unity State, in March.
Read story
News story
“I am a prey to all men”: Refugee women endure poverty, harassment, isolation
Iraq, Syrian Arab Republic
When 28-year-old Muna* fled the turmoil in Syria three years ago, she did not imagine she would wind up alone, shouldering responsibility for her family’s care, all while under constant threat of abuse and exploitation.
Read story
News story
Giving birth upright, with maté – Peru clinics open arms to indigenous women
Peru
Until recently, indigenous women giving birth in a health facility were forced to abandon their traditional labour preferences, including their tradition of giving birth in an upright position. Many women chose to…
Read story
News story
Astrologers, shamans and priests mobilize against child marriage in Nepal
Nepal
A girl’s astrological birth chart can hold the keys to her future in this remote corner of Far Western Nepal. And in the right hands, this is a good thing.
Read story
News story
Organizations raise alarm over “global contraceptive crisis”
Benin
A coalition of reproductive health organizations is sounding the alarm over the unmet contraceptive needs of hundreds of millions of people. Lack of funding for contraceptives is placing millions of women’s lives at…
Read story
News story
Companies pledge to help reduce childbirth deaths in crisis settings
Democratic Republic of the Congo
UNITED NATIONS, New York/KYESHERO, Democratic Republic of the Congo – Women do not stop giving birth when disaster strikes. Every day, about 500 women die of childbirth-related causes in humanitarian emergencies or…
Read story
News story
African presidents urge investment in youth as continent sees rare demographic opportunity
Burkina Faso
Presidents, ministers, and United Nations and World Bank officials met yesterday at UN Headquarters in New York to strengthen their commitments to the young people of Africa. The continent is undergoing a seismic shift…
Read story
News story
World leaders adopt ground-breaking plan to address refugee and migrant crisis
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Global leaders broke new ground today with a historic agreement that “rallies all partners around collective commitments to protect the human rights of all refugees and migrants,” said United…
Read story
News story
As displacements soar, Juba’s burdened clinics improvise to keep childbirth safe
South Sudan
Since the July outbreak of in violence , UN-protected camps in South Sudan’s capital have seen a spike in displaced people seeking shelter. The surge has compounded demands at the camps’ already heavily burdened health…
Read story