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A safe pregnancy is every woman’s right: Midwifery care saves lives in Myanmar
Myanmar
Ngun Hlei was lucky to have seen a midwife during her third pregnancy. Many women in Myanmar don’t. “I felt very unwell for many months during that pregnancy. But what could I do? I carried on with my work making snacks…
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“I refused”: Brave women and girls take a stand against FGM
Latty's mom made a commitment to never subject her daughters to female genital mutilation. Today, advocate and singer Latty Compaoré is one of millions of girls around the world raising her voice to help end the…
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A vision of change: Pioneer spends 30 years advocating end to FGM in Sudan
Sudan
In the early 1980s, Abdullah Ali Abdullah saw constant infections and childbirth complications while volunteering in a health centre in Sudan’s North Kordofan state. He soon realized many of these issues had the same…
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Life interrupted: Myanmar teen pregnancy points to need for comprehensive sexuality education
Myanmar
Every year, almost 50,000 teenage girls in Myanmar give birth, according to data from the 2014 census. Thiri* was one of them. She became pregnant when she was only 15 years old.
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New clinic brings reproductive health care to Syria’s underserved Al-Tabqa
Syrian Arab Republic
A new reproductive health clinic has been opened in the embattled northern Syrian city of Al-Tabqa, which has been the site of intense fighting over the past five years. Access to Al-Tabqa remains difficult, with some…
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Empowering local first responders to reach refugee and migrant women
Greece
Two years ago, Greece became the centre of a refugee and migration crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people streaming into the country, many of them risking death to escape war, persecution and deprivation. In 2016…
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Women-friendly spaces offer safe haven for Congolese refugees in Angola
Angola
In a simple white tent in the Lóvua refugee settlement in Angola, women and girls who fled the brutal conflict in Kasai, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, can find safe haven and support.
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To tackle sexual violence in Lesotho, programme targets men and boys
Lesotho
“Before, I never used a condom, and I would force myself violently onto girls and young women,” said Kabelo, 22, in rural Lesotho.
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Preventing sexual abuse and exploitation in Iraq
Iraq
“As humanitarians, we have a collective responsibility to prevent and safely respond to sexual abuse and exploitation in Iraq,” said Jennifer Emond, a UNFPA specialist on the subject, during a training programme in Iraq…
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For Malawi students, menstrual cups offer cost-saving alternative
Malawi
Prisca Gama, 22, and Given Mwira, 26, remember first trying the menstrual cup in November 2016. The women, both fourth-year students at Mzuzu University in northern Malawi, quickly became enthusiastic about the product…
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After Peru floods, women emerge as leaders, advocates
Peru
“When the disaster struck, I was in an advanced stage of pregnancy, and all I did was try to protect my life and my children’s lives,” said Lily, 40, describing how her family fled flooding in the Illimo district of…
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Among Syrian refugees, dispelling myths about contraceptives
Jordan
I don’t want more kids and I’m afraid to get pregnant,” said Fatima*, a 37-year-old Syrian refugee and mother of six, at a UNFPA-supported clinic.
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