News story
This International Women’s Day marks 20 years of progress
UNITED NATIONS, New York – “I already heard in the past that women and men are equal,” said Firuza Sirojeva, a schoolgirl in Tajikistan, after attending a workshop on women’s rights. “But here, at the training, I…
Read story
News story
Flooding in the Balkans leaves stagnant water, hygiene needs
North Macedonia
SKOPJE/MOGILA, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – When heavy storms hit the southern Balkans in late January, the village of Mogila “became like Venice,” according to 70-year-old resident Vele Nedelkovski. “The…
Read story
News story
Going the last mile to provide family planning in Lao People's Democratic Republic
Lao People's Democratic Republic
VIENTIANE, Lao People's Democratic Republic – “If only my wife and I knew early enough about family planning and could access services, we would have had four children – not 14, as we did,” said Bounthone…
Read story
News story
Slashing Haiti’s maternal and infant death rates, one delivery at a time
Haiti
NEW YORK/PORT-AU-PRINCE – “I love everything about being a mother,” said Loilobies, a pregnant woman in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Yet to become a mother, she and other women in the country assume unacceptably large risks:…
Read story
News story
Finding justice for survivors of gender-based violence in Somalia
Somalia
PUNTLAND, Somalia – Sixteen-year-old Sahra* was herding goats in Puntland, Somalia, last September when a man approached her and asked for drinking water. She gave him the water, but then he grabbed her and, at…
Read story
News story
Youth take the lead in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
After Benaiah Nari watched his peers navigate the treacherous waters of adolescence in Papua New Gunea, he became determined to change the status quo.
Read story
News story
Fierce winter weather batters displaced Syrians throughout region
Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon
BEIRUT/DAMASCUS/ERBIL/ZAATARI – “A bullet to the chest without armor, that’s what a storm of this proportion feels like for people with little shelter,” said a Syrian woman refugee in Saida, Lebanon.
News story
Tackling fallen uterus and its causes in rural Ethiopia
Ethiopia
ASSOSA, Ethiopia – Santibe Kurben, 40, suffered for years from uterine prolapse – a condition in which pelvic muscles become weakened, causing the uterus to slip down into, or even out of, the birth canal. The condition…
Read story
News story
Recognizing an unsung hero – the ambulance driver
South Sudan, Uganda
ADJUMANI, Uganda – Laura Jurua, a 26-year-old South Sudanese refugee, went into labour in the middle of the night in her temporary shelter in the Boroli refugee settlement, in Uganda’s Adjumani District. As her labour…
Read story
News story
On Valentine’s Day, young people around the world say #IDONT to child marriage
UNITED NATIONS, New York – This Valentine’s Day young people around the world are harnessing the power of social media to raise their voice against child marriage.
Read story
News story
Top 10 myths about child marriage
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Despite widespread condemnation of child marriage, the practice persists around the world, perpetuated by a toxic mix of poverty and gender inequality. Yet the issue is often deeply…
Read story
News story
Martial artists fight gender discrimination, violence in Tajikistan
Tajikistan
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan – “Strong men respect women.” These were the words of World Taekwondo Champion Daler Tyuryaev, who is helping to lead a movement of martial artists in the battle against gender-based violence and…
Read story