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“There are people willing to listen”: How census takers go above and beyond to count people as they are
LA PAZ, Bolivia; CHIȘINĂU, The Republic of Moldova; Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam – It was 8:30 a.m. on 23 March, 2024, the day 860,000 volunteers would carry out Bolivia’s national census. In the Río Seco area of the…
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Drought emergency in Zambia: Child marriage, HIV and hunger on the rise for women and girls
SOUTHERN PROVINCE, Zambia – “They don’t have any food, and the teenagers can become vulnerable,” said nurse Suvannah Sinakaaba, in the village of Hakankula in Zambia’s Monze District. “HIV rates are quite high among…
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Giving birth on Ukraine’s front line: How women and medical workers are coping under fire
ODESA, Ukraine – Like many expecting parents, Oleksandra and Oleksandr Chebotar were eagerly awaiting the birth of their daughter. The way it happened, however, was unlike anything they had ever imagined.
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UNFPA-supported tech innovations advancing the rights of women and girls in Cameroon, Kenya and Turkmenistan
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Technology has transformed people’s ability to meet their sexual and reproductive health needs and claim their rights, serving as a gateway to information, revolutionizing health-care delivery…
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“No one is spared”: Sexual violence wielded as a weapon in Haiti’s humanitarian crisis
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – “One of the biggest problems is insecurity – and the physical and sexual violence that comes with that,” explained Edrish Justilien, 36, a psychologist at the Petite Place Cazeau Hospital in…
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In an increasingly volatile world, support for women and girls must continue, UNFPA urges
BALTI, Republic of Moldova/TAIZZ, Yemen/Port-au-Prince, Haiti/UNFPA, New York – “I caught the last evacuation train, and the next day the train station was bombed,” Katya told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and…
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Sexual violence and conflict in Sudan: A war on the bodies of women and girls
DARFUR/KHARTOUM, Sudan – Aisha* lost both her parents last year, aged just 17. “I was left alone at home. I couldn’t reach out to any of my relatives because the situation was extremely tense,” she told UNFPA, the…
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The emotional cost of combating gender-based violence on the front line in Ukraine
KHARKIV, Ukraine – “There was a call from the police – not from the survivor herself. We went with them, and there was physical, psychological, and economic abuse happening,” explained Olena Kuznietsova, a psychologist…
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UNFPA-supported surgeries help survivors of obstetric fistula to advocate for others in Burundi
BUJUMBURA, Burundi – “During my contractions, my mother-in-law and my own mother refused to let me go to the health centre to give birth,” Gloriose Mbonimpa told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health…
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How a teenage mother in Cameroon triumphed over child marriage and sexual violence amid conflict
MAROUA, Cameroon – In Maroua, in Cameroon’s Far North Region, Aissatou* was forced into marriage at just 14 years old, her dreams of schooling shattered.
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Fighting for equal rights against the tide of climate change
ASIA PACIFIC REGION – Janine Cruzet runs a women’s disability rights group in the Philippines, one of many low-lying island nations home to millions of people at the forefront of the global climate crisis.
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Emergency maternity care and psychosocial support for women and girls hit by floods in Afghanistan
BAGHLAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – “Women were in shock. They’ve lost their homes, they’ve lost family members.”
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