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Green shoots of hope spring from the depths of war in Yemen
Yemen
AL HUDAYDAH, Yemen — “Giving up on school was the hardest part for me,” said Hiam. “I still feel deep sadness, but fate takes you down paths you don't want, so I learned to live, fight, and strive to reach my goals…
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Not your typical boys’ club: Mozambique’s school meetings engage students against gender-based violence
Mozambique
BEIRA, Mozambique – “Men think that women should be submissive towards them and accept everything … If a woman refuses to follow the man’s rules, she ends up being beaten.”
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Women in Guinea-Bissau speak out against female genital mutilation: “I’m lucky to be alive”
Guinea-Bissau
BURUNTUMA, Guinea-Bissau – “In all four of my deliveries I had a haemorrhage” said 39-year-old Djenabu Sano, reflecting on the consequences of female genital mutilation on the births of her children.
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Against the odds, Malawian girl overcomes child marriage, agonizing labour and obstetric fistula
Malawi
NKHATA BAY, Malawi – Jacqueline was just 15 when she fell in love with a boy from another village. The two eloped, initiating a customary marriage rather than a formal one. But Jacqueline kept the relationship a secret…
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“What’s left to be destroyed in my life?” Flash floods deepen the catastrophe in Yemen
Yemen
SA’ADA GOVERNORATE, Yemen – Shaima left school at just eight years old to support her family’s farming business in Hajjah, in northern Yemen. Conflict had erupted and the country’s economy went into freefall, leaving…
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Empowering young people in Ecuador to understand their bodies and defend their rights
Ecuador
ESMERALDAS, Ecuador – “RuranKapak for me means freedom, knowledge, breaking myths,” said 20-year-old youth leader Janny Caicedo Corozo. “It’s about helping young people who don't know their rights and need to know…
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Five things you need to know about consent
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Everyone has the right to make their own choices about their bodies. Yet millions of people are denied their right to say no to sex – or yes to the choice of a marriage partner or to the right…
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Beating the odds: Resilience, hope and safe births at a UNFPA mobile clinic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
NORTH KIVU PROVINCE, Democratic Republic of the Congo – Although heavily pregnant and in pain, Kaindo Bembeleza waited patiently along with dozens of other women on a row of benches under a tarpaulin tent.
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Fadma and the forest: Learning from the past for a flourishing future in rural Morocco
AGADIR, Morocco – “Women play an irreplaceable role in preserving the Argan forests,” said Jamila Idbourrous, director of the Union of Argan Oil Women’s Cooperatives in Agadir, Morocco.
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UNFPA embraces femtech to boost period awareness in Burkina Faso and the Republic of Moldova
Burkina Faso, Moldova, Republic of
CHIȘINĂU, Republic of Moldova/OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — “I used an app before but forgot to enter the dates, but with this watch you can easily see every day of your menstrual cycle. I think it's important to…
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After flooding and rains devastate Peru, survivors of gender-based violence find safety and services at UNFPA-supported shelter
Peru
PIURA, Peru – Displacement. Violence. Stigma and discrimination. Unfortunately, these are some of the challenges women confront in Peru.
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“Sometimes she was desperate”: How survivors of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are healing with the help of UNFPA’s frontline workers
Democratic Republic of the Congo
NORTH KIVU PROVINCE, The Democratic Republic of the Congo – “I was going to fetch firewood from the forest to cook food for myself and my six children, when I came across armed men.”
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