News story
“I still want to finish school”: A crisis of reproductive agency for girls in Namibia
Namibia
KUNENE REGION, Namibia – “I should have been in Grade 11 this year,” said 21-year-old Elly Tjondu. “That’s all I want, to go back and finish school.”
Read story
News story
“I had no choice but to deliver my own baby”: Health workers in Gaza city describe impossible conditions
Palestine, State of
GAZA STRIP, Occupied Palestinian Territory – “The labour pains hit me at 4 am, but there was no one to help,” said Yasmeen, a midwife in Gaza city. “I felt it might end with my death, and the death of my unborn baby.”…
Read story
News story
“I don't want to be surprised by another pregnancy”: Contraceptive options offer young people in Côte d’Ivoire a fairer future
Côte d'Ivoire
BOUAKÉ DEPARTMENT, Côte d’Ivoire – Thérèse Kouadio, 18, is the eldest of five siblings from the N'Gattakro district, in Côte d’Ivoire’s central Bouaké Department.
News story
Holding space for hope: Mobile health teams are a lifeline for survivors of gender-based violence in Hebron
Palestine, State of
HEBRON, Occupied Palestinian Territory – Ayat, 29, is a mother of four and pregnant. She lives in Deir Al Shams, a rural community in southern Hebron where there are no nearby health services, no places for women to…
Read story
News story
Health workers lose support structures and pregnant women die: The reality of funding cuts hits in Yemen
Yemen
HADRAMAUT/HAJJAH/TAI’Z GOVERNORATES, Yemen – “The patient was in her third trimester and arrived with severe bleeding,” said Ms. Akaber, a community midwife from the Ku'aydinah District, in Yemen’s northwestern…
Read story
News story
Contraceptive stocks dwindle in Kenya, affecting most vulnerable women
Kenya
NAROK COUNTY, Kenya – Decades of progress in expanding access to contraception in Kenya could be unravelling, as global funding for contraception plummets. Stocks of many contraceptives are now dwindling in public…
Read story
News story
“Women and girls are traumatized” after earthquake shatters communities in eastern Afghanistan
Afghanistan
KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – When 15-year-old Salma* said goodbye to her mother and siblings to spend the weekend at her grandmother’s house, she had no idea it would be the last time she would see them alive.
Read story
News story
Reaching the last mile: Motorbike ambulances improve maternal and newborn health in rural Benin
Benin
HÊVIÉ, Benin – In rural communities of Benin, where rough roads and long distances often stand between patients and life-saving care, bike ambulances are transforming maternal and newborn health outcomes.
Read story
News story
Adolescent pregnancy in Latin America and the Caribbean: Seeking reproductive justice for Afrodescendent women and girls
BOCAS DEL TORO PROVINCE, Panama – “We don't have special care for women,” said Jakelyn Chiu, a single mother of three from the Bocas del Toro Province in Panama. “Here in the district, we don't have a…
Read story
News story
Famine confirmed in Gaza – pregnant women and newborns at acute risk
Palestine, State of
GAZA STRIP, Occupied Palestinian Territory – “Where is the world watching what’s happening to us, and to our children? All families in the world have children,” said Inas, who lives in a displacement camp with her three…
Read story
News story
Female genital mutilation in infancy still common, Gambian mothers say
The Gambia
BASSE, The Gambia – Hulay Damba, 55, spent years performing female genital mutilation on girls in her community. Her role as a practitioner was passed down from her grandmother. “It was what I was taught,” she…
Read story
News story
International humanitarian law flouted as health and aid workers are targeted in conflicts around the world
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Across the world, wars are being waged on the very systems set up to protect civilian populations: Health workers, hospitals, health centres and ambulances are being targeted in horrifying…
Read story