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“For women and girls, no place is completely safe”: Despite some progress, urgent and stronger action needed against digital violence
“Can you put a price tag on human life? Can there be a penalty strong enough against those who, for their own amusement, mentally torture people until they end their own lives?”
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Ending maternal deaths in a world of 8 billion: How midwives save lives
Lao People's Democratic Republic
“I feel proud and happy that the world population is reaching 8 billion, especially because I know that it is partly because of the good work of midwives as we work to save lives every day,” said 27-year-old Amina…
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Ending gender-based violence in a world of 8 billion: How a new term, reproductive violence, helps confront an old problem
Whether to have children or not is one of the most life-altering decisions a person can make. But as UNFPA’s 2022 State of World Population report shows, people around the world – especially women and members of…
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Family planning takes global stage, showing both major gains and gaps
Brazil, Nepal
Of all Wendys Rivero’s hopes for the future, getting pregnant again is not one of them. She, her husband and their two kids currently live in a shelter for migrants and refugees known as Rondon 1 in Boa Vista, having…
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Reclaiming hope and justice for survivors of sexual violence during drought and hunger crisis in Somalia
Somalia
“I felt powerless… I looked around but it was too dark to see who had done this to me. I ran back home very scared – my family was still fast asleep.” Khadijo*, 11, only ventured a few metres from her tent to go to the…
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Reclaiming teenage mothers’ dreams, plans and potential
Costa Rica
Like mother, like son; Ana Francini González Avalos’ son Tairon is a restless, intelligent 7 year old who knows how to read and wants to learn much more. Fran, as she likes to be called, has always been a quick study.…
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After an adolescent pregnancy drove them apart, here’s how one family in Rwanda reconnected
Rwanda
When Nyiranzavugimana Florence was 19 years old, she fell unexpectedly pregnant. Initially, family and friends reacted by shunning her – subjecting Ms. Nyiranzavugimana to the shame, isolation and stigma that too often…
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Engaging communities in Malawi to end child marriage and help girls finish school
Malawi, European Commission
“I had to go against some deeply-held traditions to persuade my people that girls need access to education, just like boys,” said village head Patete, watching as a group of girls walked to school in Malawi’s Machinga…
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Girls in Uganda report being lured across the border to undergo female genital mutilation
Kenya, Uganda
Fourteen-year-old Judith* and five other Pokot girls were lured across the border, into Kenya from Uganda, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The reason: To undergo female genital mutilation. The perpetrator: One…
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Compounding crises endanger women and girls amid Pakistan’s unprecedented flooding
Pakistan
Amid the worst-ever flooding Pakistan has ever faced, Guddi and her 8-month-old daughter, Akshara, are both struggling with hunger. Akshara was recently taken to a clinic to be treated for severe acute malnutrition, and…
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Health and violence risks multiply for women and girls in Kenya as worst drought in 40 years takes hold
Kenya
Chants of “Apei Apei ng’akankomwon ng’akan!” ring out from a group of women sitting under a tree. The words translate to “One, one, nine, five” – Kenya’s national gender-based violence helpline number.
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Soaring violence, fuel crisis and a cholera outbreak: Haiti in the grip of a “humanitarian catastrophe”
Haiti
As protection, health-care and essential services break down, the violence and volatile political and economic crisis engulfing Haiti has rapidly deteriorated into what the UN has described as a humanitarian catastrophe.
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