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Fighting for girls’ right to say no to child marriage in South Sudan
South Sudan
Helen Poni hopes her decision to not become a child bride and pursue a career inspires other girls.
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Dignity and strength: Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Colombia
Colombia
Fifteen-year-old Nelsmar walked for eight days to reach Colombia, where she slept on the streets. This is her story.
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Midwives save lives – but more support for midwifery is needed
Bangladesh
Midwives could avert over 80 per cent of all maternal deaths, stillbirths and newborn deaths.
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Barcode technology transforms access to family planning in the Philippines
Philippines
A UNFPA-supported project aims to replace manual reporting with simple barcode scanning for family planning stocks.
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Training new midwives in storm-hit Mozambique
Mozambique
A veteran of multiple humanitarian crises is part of UNFPA's response team for Cyclone Idai in Beira.
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Menstruation is not a girls' or women’s issue – it’s a human rights issue
“My periods are a nightmare,” Nyanjuma Galoth, 20, told UNFPA at a civilian protection camp in South Sudan. “They are very painful, and I can’t get any sanitary products.” It is a major source of stress, she said. “The…
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A nightmare within a nightmare: Taking on sexual and gender-based violence in humanitarian crises
Yemen
The prevalence of gender-based violence often increases in times of crisis, as protection mechanisms break down, support services falter and stresses on families mount. In Yemen, reports of gender-based violence…
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Treatment for traumatic childbirth injury gives new hope to women in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
“I saw myself as the living dead,” 50-year-old Laila* told UNFPA. She suffered terribly while giving birth in Pakistan 27 years ago. The prolonged, obstructed labour left her with an obstetric fistula – one of the most…
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Ending obstetric fistula: Devastating and preventable childbirth injury continues to haunt women
Tanzania, United Republic of
Despite her best efforts, the delivery went worse than she could have imagined. Ms. Yakobo ended up with an obstetric fistula – one of the most serious and tragic injuries that can occur during childbirth.
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5 ways female genital mutilation undermines the health of women and girls
Girls and women who undergo FGM face a range of serious health risks – from potentially fatal bleeding to childbirth complications to long-term psychological problems.
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A long road to safety, healing for refugee mothers in Iraq
Iraq
"I felt the world just stopped and the few minutes that passed felt like an eternity. I couldn’t feel my heart beating anymore and broke into heaving sobs."
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Safe pregnancies for displaced mothers as mobile clinics reach deep into Kachin camps
Myanmar
Anenatal checkups provided by mobile clinics are saving lives of mothers and babies among displaced people in Myanmar.
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