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Indigenous men advocate gender equality to benefit women – and men too
COMARCA NGABE BUGLE, Panama – Gender inequality is pervasive everywhere. Globally, 9 in 10 people around the world, both women and men, continue to harbour gender biases, according to a recent United Nations report.…
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Tackling the hidden mental health crisis in Yemen
IBB GOVERNORATE, Yemen – “I wanted to be a midwife – midwives are respected. I thought being a midwife would give me the freedom to help and guide other women to have fulfilling lives,” Kholoud told UNFPA, the United…
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Midwives go door-to-door amid flooding in Peru, reaching thousands with critical health services
Peru
PIURA, Peru – In the first months of 2023, torrential rains flooded the streets of Veintiséis de Octubre in Peru’s northwestern Piura district, interrupting city services and trapping people in their homes. For 30-year-…
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Heroes amid crises – 8 stories of resilience and hope from 2023
UNITED NATIONS, New York – From droughts to floods, displacement and conflicts – the cycle of despair in 2023 seemed unstoppable. Yet in crisis after crisis, so were the accounts of the selfless and the heroic. As the…
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An unequal world: Designing a safer, healthier place for women and girls in Argentina, Cameroon and Uganda
United Nations, NEW YORK – What would the world look like if it was designed by and for women?
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UNFPA-supported cash vouchers programme eases access to care for women living with HIV in Indonesia
Indonesia
Jakarta, INDONESIA – “When I first learned that I had HIV, I felt like my world was falling apart,” 39-year-old mother-of-two Wati* told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, in 2022.
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$1.2 billion needed in urgent UNFPA appeal for women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights in 2024
UNITED NATIONS, New York – This year saw records toppled one after the other: The hottest year in human history; the highest number of people displaced; hunger crises at their worst.
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Breaking with tradition in Malawi: Communities band together to protect girls’ rights
Malawi
CHIKWAWA, Malawi – Sixteen-year-old Fanny Galeta wasn’t sure how to react when her mother told her that her initiation ceremony had been planned. Over the years, Fanny had heard many stories about these ceremonies – and…
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“We lost everything”: In Yemen, a mother’s grief lays bare the human cost of the climate crisis
Yemen
TAIZ, Yemen – “One day, when I was returning from fetching water, I collapsed on the road. I was bleeding so badly that I knew I was going to lose my baby.” Umm Mahra was 31 years old and five months pregnant when she…
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“Your story holds power”: UNFPA provides HIV testing for survivors of violence in Namibia
Namibia
ZAMBEZI, Namibia – Twenty-year-old university student Haillie Lushetile did not have any easy childhood. At five years old, she survived rape by a family member. She repressed the traumatic experience, however, until…
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“We are the experts on disability”: Advocate Angeline Chand urges inclusive disaster preparedness and response in Fiji
Pacific Sub-regional Office
SUVA, Fiji – For the millions of people spread across more than a dozen countries and territories that make up the Pacific Islands, natural hazards and climate disasters are unfortunately nothing new.
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UNFPA urges leaders to address gendered, discriminatory impacts of climate change at COP28
Trinidad and Tobago
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago – The domino effect is clear: Climate change causes extreme dry weather in Trinidad and Tobago, which forces women to expend more time and energy on the physically demanding task of…
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