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With emergency obstetric care elusive, pregnant women in Yemen face tragic consequences
Yemen
An internally displaced woman named Hamsa* in labour arrived at Maifa’a Mother and Child Centre in Hadramout Governorate, known to provide free obstetric services, only to discover medical personnel gone and delivery…
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Ukraine humanitarian response supported by data collaboration
Ukraine
When Viktoria Kravets, 17, woke up early on 24 February in her home in Ukraine, she knew something was terribly wrong. “I immediately saw a dozen notifications and thought that I was still asleep,” she recalled to UNFPA…
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From cyclones to safe births, midwives stay and deliver in Madagascar
Madagascar
“I’m so proud and happy to have helped this young girl to give birth safely today,” said Marie Nancy Christiane, gazing at the new mother and daughter after supporting the delivery on 5 May – International Day of the…
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Women take the lead with new counselling and support centre in Palestine
Palestine, State of
“Our centre is the first of its kind in this small community,” said Ikhlas, 38, at a newly established women’s centre in Issawiyah, a suburb of East Jerusalem. The centre is unique not only in offering counselling to…
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Fighting the stigma of living with HIV in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Kamal* was given one week to live. He lay in a hospital bed, weighing just 20 kilograms when the doctor diagnosed him with HIV and announced his dire prediction to family and friends in the waiting room. That was 15…
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5 ways the world is changing how it sees menstruation
“Menstruation is still considered a secret that is hardly discussed,” Ogaufi Moisakamo, in Botswana, told UNFPA. “When I got my first period, I was also ashamed of informing my mother. And when I finally told her, she…
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Population census enters the digital age in Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
For ten days in the spring, 24,000 enumerators spread out across this Central Asian country of 7 million to finally conduct the national population and housing census that had been postponed for two years because of…
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Ethiopia’s worst drought in 40 years threatens to derail gains made in maternal and newborn health
Ethiopia
“When I saw my baby’s hand coming out, I ran for our lives. We travelled nearly 90 kilometres to the nearest health facility… We are both lucky to be alive.”
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Three women, three stories: Picking up the pieces of lives broken by obstetric fistula
Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya
Pemba was called “ndoki,” or “witch,” by her community, including her father and siblings. Sojina felt like a prisoner in the room she was banished to, forbidden to step outside even to worship. Jasmila’s career as an…
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5 things you might not know about obstetric fistula
First things first, what is obstetric fistula? What it is: Obstetric fistula is a traumatic childbirth injury that robs a woman or girl of her health, rights and dignity. It is a hole between the birth canal and bladder…
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Family health houses save lives, employ women, in rural Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Five years ago, midwife Laila Amini watched a girl die in childbirth from causes that were entirely preventable. That day, Ms. Amini resolved that no other women or girls in her community would die when they still had a…
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Women and girls’ rights are an unseen casualty of the crisis in Syria
Syrian Arab Republic
“Life quickly became an open-air prison after the war,” a young woman from Aleppo told UNFPA. “We were instructed not to leave our houses for fear of harrassment, rape and kidnap. I was told that child marriage was my…
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