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UNFPA - East and Southern Africa

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    • Atupele and her sister Shanil at home ©UNFPA/Malawi/2024
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Source: UNFPA - East and Southern Africa |

Malawian sisters confirm the lasting effect of Dignity Kits

The kits provide women, girls, and people who menstruate with essential supplies that are often overlooked when there is an immediate need for safety, food, and water

“The items we received have proven incredibly durable; throughout all the times we have had to move from place to place, we carried them with us, and they have continued to be useful to this day,” Shanil Nyamula explains. These were words spoken by Shanil and her twin sister Atupele…

UNFPA - East and Southern Africa

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    • UNFPA's new Social Innovation Toolkit is designed to equip young people, especially adolescents and girls, with the resources they need to develop innovative solutions to end harmful practices. ©SkyNextphoto/elements.envato.com
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Source: UNFPA - East and Southern Africa |

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) launches groundbreaking digital innovation strategy and toolkit to help end female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage in East and Southern Africa

The toolkit, titled Addressing Harmful Practices through Social Innovation: A UNFPA Innovation Guide for 'YOU' and Startups, offers valuable resources for young innovators

With the clock ticking towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency announced a groundbreaking new initiative to help create a safer world where women and girls can live free from violence and harmful practices, to achieve their fullest potential. The Social…

UNFPA - East and Southern Africa
Source: UNFPA - East and Southern Africa |

Walking arm in arm towards a more inclusive future where everyone can access sexual and reproductive health

The easy access to health services and medicine has enabled them to receive timely and appropriate medical care, and referrals where necessary

On the outskirts of Dar es Salaam lies a colourful oasis, one where sign language is spoken across the schoolyard and students are adept at assisting one another. Two students, Amir and Lisa, walk arm in arm. Amir  provides guidance to Lisa, who walks confidently with her mobility cane towards…

UNFPA - East and Southern Africa

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    • Mme Ombeni, giving birth in the mobile clinic in the internally displaced persons camp of Bulengo, North Kivu DRC. ©UNFPA/Junior Mayindu
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Source: UNFPA - East and Southern Africa |

Urgent call for country leadership and global solidarity to End Maternal and Newborn Deaths by 2030

UNFPA estimates US $115.5 billion is needed to end preventable maternal deaths in 120 priority countries by 2030

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will join global leaders to call for renewed commitment towards progress on eradicating preventable maternal and newborn deaths at a 29 April event during the 57th Session of the Commission on Population and Development. At this ministerial event, UNFPA and the Governments of Bangladesh,…

UNFPA - East and Southern Africa
Source: UNFPA - East and Southern Africa |

Supporting Gender-Based Violence (GBV) survivors in Amhara to recover and build resilience

UNFPA supports GBV programming in partnership with the Amhara Women Association in Debark, Debrebirhan, Dessie, Kombolcha and Nefas Mewcha Woredas

Amina is one of the many women who have experienced conflict-related sexual violence during the devastating two-year conflict in northern Ethiopia. For more than three years, she kept silent about her experience. Amina says she feared being stigmatized by family, friends and community members. “The burden was immense, affecting my health and…

UNFPA - East and Southern Africa
Source: UNFPA - East and Southern Africa |

Investing in equality: How young women are innovating to improve their health, rights and lives

Women innovators are stepping up to bridge the gap and save lives

“I lead a team of six amazing women, with specialties from pharmaceutical supply chains to software engineering and digital marketing – our journey so far in empowering young women to take charge of their health has been nothing short of amazing,” said 26-year-old Chioma Uzoma from Nigeria. Ms. Uzoma is among14…

UNFPA - East and Southern Africa
Source: UNFPA - East and Southern Africa |

A transformative journey to reach zero preventable maternal deaths in Rwanda

In recent years, the decline has been slower, with the MMR standing at 203 per 100,000 live births in 2020 – a decline of only 7 data points over 5 years

Rwanda has undergone a remarkable journey in tackling its high maternal mortality rate over the past decade. From an alarming 1071 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2010, the country has accelerated its rate of reduction in the MMR, reaching 210 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015. In…

UNFPA - East and Southern Africa
Source: UNFPA - East and Southern Africa |

Defying tradition, championing rights: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) sparks change in female genital mutilation hotspots across East Africa

Despite the practice being declared illegal, deeply rooted cultural beliefs impede progress towards eradicating it in certain regions

''Is [female genital mutilation] religious?'' Under a tree in the quiet village of Dalocha Woreda in Central Ethiopia region, Nuritu Sirbar, the Head of the Dalocha district Women and Children's Affairs Office, challenged community and religious leaders four years ago to justify a deeply ingrained tradition – female genital mutilation…

UNFPA - East and Southern Africa
Source: UNFPA - East and Southern Africa |

Reviving Tigray’s Health System to Prevent Maternal Deaths

The accessible health facilities in the Tigray region more than 90 percent were partially or completely damaged with 98 percent lacking essential family planning supplies

On November 22nd, 2023, for the first time in over a year after the conflict, surgeons at Adi Daero Primary Hospital started to bring life into the world again. Forty-year-old Wahid Hadush became the first mother to deliver a healthy baby via Cesarean section.  Wahid had traveled from Adi-Abagi with…

UNFPA - East and Southern Africa
Source: UNFPA - East and Southern Africa |

How family planning is changing the lives of youth in communities caught in attacks in northern Mozambique

In Mozambique, most maternal deaths are attributed to a lack of family planning, resulting in high rates of unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions

Early in the morning, queues begin to form outside Lichinga Health Centre as medical staff prepare to treat patients, while nearby, mentors encourage people to test for HIV and learn about family planning methods. Their combined efforts to provide these health services in Niassa province in northwest Mozambique hold particular significance. Since…