Press releases
Press release
Women and girls pay a heavy price as conflict escalates yet again in Lebanon
04 March 2026
Beirut/New York, 4 March 2026 – The lives of women and girls in Lebanon have been upended as the country faces an escalation of violence. The recent wave of intensive airstrikes on Beirut, South Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley has forced 83,800 people from their homes since 2 March, with 970 pregnant women among them.
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UNFPA: Funding cuts undermine maternal health systems worldwide, putting millions at risk
10 December 2025
New York/ Geneva, 11 December 2025 – Maternal health systems that help women survive pregnancy and childbirth are buckling across conflict and disaster settings. Today, the United Nations Population Fund launched a US$1 billion humanitarian appeal to fund its work in 41 countries in 2026, warning that millions of women and girls in crisis settings will lose access to essential services if funding for reproductive health services is not secured.
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Kherson maternity hospital attack highlights worsening risks for pregnant women in Ukraine, UNFPA warns
10 December 2025
In the last week, a maternity hospital in Kherson supported by UNFPA was damaged in an attack – the latest strike on a facility caring for pregnant women and newborns in Ukraine. The incident comes amid alarming new UNFPA data showing a sharp rise in the risk of dying in pregnancy or childbirth in Ukraine. Analysis of national health data indicates that the maternal mortality rate has risen by approximately 37 per cent in the past year, as repeated strikes on hospitals and the breakdown of essential services force women to give birth in increasingly dangerous conditions.
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Lifetime toll: 840 million women faced partner or sexual violence
19 November 2025
Violence against women remains one of the world’s most persistent and under-addressed human rights crises, with very little progress in two decades, according to a landmark report released today by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN partners.
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Countries step up with landmark financing commitments for family planning and reproductive health
05 November 2025
BOGOTÁ, Colombia, 5 November 2025 – As traditional global aid for reproductive health declines, countries once reliant on external donors are responding with their own bold investments to safeguard access to family planning for millions of women and girls.
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11,600 pregnant women need urgent support following Afghanistan earthquake
05 September 2025
Some 11,600 pregnant women are estimated to have been impacted by the earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan on 31 August, which was followed by several aftershocks.
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Diene Keita appointed Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
29 August 2025
New York, 29 August, 2025 – Ms. Diene Keita was appointed Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, today by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. She holds the rank of United Nations Under-Secretary-General.
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UNFPA urges governments to act on climate and gender at Global Symposium ahead of COP30
31 July 2025
Call to action highlights growing risks to women’s health and rights in face of worsening climate impacts
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Anti-discrimination champion from India and global network of population scientists receive the 2025 United Nations Population Award
11 July 2025
UNITED NATIONS, New York, 11 July 2025 – The laureates of the fortieth edition of the United Nations Population Award are Ms. Varsha Deshpande, Founder, Dalit Mahila Vikas Mandal of India in the individual category, and the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) in the institution category.
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Announcing winners of The Equalizer Challenge
03 July 2025
UNFPA Announces Winners of the Equalizer Challenge to Scale Breakthrough Women’s Health Innovations. Winners include an AI health tracker for pregnant women, a digital menopause platform and a…
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New Initiative Sets Out to Ensure 10 Million Safer Births Under the Patronage of Her Majesty The Queen of Denmark
26 June 2025
Under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Mary of Denmark, UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, and Danish NGO Maternity Foundation announced the 10 Million Safer Births Initiative in Abuja, Nigeria on 24 June, 2025. The initiative is driven by an ambitious commitment to support 10 million births across Sub-Saharan Africa by the end of 2030.
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UNFPA report links falling birth rates to cost of living, sexist norms, fear of the future
10 June 2025
NEW YORK, 10 June, 2025 – Millions of people are unable to have the number of children they want, but not because they are rejecting parenthood; economic and social barriers are stopping them. This is the central finding of UNFPA’s 2025 State of World Population report, “The real fertility crisis: The pursuit of reproductive agency in a changing world”.*
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