News story
“They need someone to listen”: UNFPA supports essential psychosocial service delivery after deadly earthquakes in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
HERAT, Afghanistan – “I thought that somebody was shaking me. And then the roof collapsed.”
This is what 25-year-old Shamaiel from Naieb Rafi village, Afghanistan, recalled to midwife Nafisa Hotak following a 6.…
News story
“Race against death” amid relentless bombardment in Gaza, pregnant women tell UNFPA
Palestine, State of
GAZA, Palestine – “My baby was feeling every explosion,” a pregnant woman from northern Gaza told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, from the school where she is currently sheltering. The…
Read story
News story
Sudan’s women and girls endure six months of conflict with no end in sight
KHARTOUM, Sudan – Lubna still remembers the sound of shelling in Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan, six months ago. The 34-year old was, at the time, mother to six children and pregnant. “I was wondering how I can…
Read story
News story
Building a generation of leaders and empowering girls to be students, not brides, in Indonesia
Indonesia
JAKARTA, Indonesia – What girls want for their futures matters. And, according to new survey data, what they want most is the chance to learn. The study, published 10 August 2023 by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn…
Read story
News story
“I miss my home”: Fleeing conflict, tens of thousands of women and girls cross into Armenia
Armenia
VAYOTS DZOR, Armenia – “I didn’t even know whether my parents were alive or not. It was a very difficult time,” said Mariam, a 16-year-old from Martakert in Karabakh.
Read story
News story
Afghanistan quake leaves most vulnerable – women and girls – in dire situation
Afghanistan
HERAT, Afghanistan – More than 12,000 people have been impacted by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake which struck on the morning of 7 October, with most of the severely injured believed to be women and children.
Read story
News story
“Giving birth to another child is not in my plans anymore”: New UNFPA report finds sexual and reproductive health omitted from most national climate plans
Madagascar
MAJUNGA, Madagascar/UNITED NATIONS, New York – Only one third of countries have committed to upholding the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls in their national climate plans, according to new…
Read story
News story
Services without stigma: Halting HIV’s spread in Lesotho through non-discriminatory care
Lesotho
MAPUTSOE, Lesotho – Since the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the rate of the virus’s spread has slowed significantly, with new infections down 59 per cent from 1995. But that hasn’t stopped it from newly infecting 1.3…
Read story
News story
“Psychological wounds will take time to heal”: Treating immense trauma in Derna in the aftermath of Storm Daniel
Morocco
DERNA, Libya – “The hospital was overwhelmed with emergency cases and dead bodies,” said 29-year-old gynaecologist Dr. Nehal Anwar, who works at a maternity hospital in Derna, a port city on Libya’s northeast coast. “…
Read story
News story
Defying conflict and child marriage to champion girls’ education and rights in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
BENISHANGUL-GUMUZ, Ethiopia – “I was very scared when I first entered the safe house. I was lonely and wouldn’t leave my room for a month,” said Ms. Alemtsehay*, now 18.
Read story
News story
Portable ultrasounds give pregnant women a ray of hope amid crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
NORTH KIVU PROVINCE, Democratic Republic of the Congo – “Most of the women here have never had an ultrasound scan in their lives – even though on average they’ve already given birth more than five times,” said Charmante…
Read story
News story
Rescued from the earthquake in Morocco, midwife Maria delivers babies and saves lives as catastrophe unfolds around her
Morocco
MARRAKESH, Morocco – “Trapped under the debris, I thought I was going to die,” said Maria, a midwife in Talat N’Yaagoub in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains.
Read story