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United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

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    • Teenage girls with seed grinding mills, part of the distributions in a UNFPA-supported project to support them in launching a business. © UNFPA Niger
    • More than three quarters of girls in Niger are married while they are still children and the adolescent pregnancy rate is around 14 per cent. © UNFPA Niger
    • Mahamane Mansour Kané Maiguizo is a champion of social well-being in Tessaoua. © UNFPA Niger
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Source: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) |

Empowering adolescent girls in Niger to take control of their lives – and futures

The Tessaoua project works with the Association of Traditional Chiefs of Niger and local women's organizations on training sessions, helping to mobilize local leaders as allies in advocating for girls’ rights

“Every young girl must have an economic activity. It’s humiliating to ask for money: You have to look out for yourself,” said 17-year-old Maimounatou, who lives in Tessaoua, in Niger’s south-central Maradi region. A rural and generally calm area, Tessaoua is frequently hit by intense flooding. As many in the community…

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Source: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) |

The Gambia’s decision to uphold ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) critical win for girls’ and women’s rights

Joint statement by UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell, UNFPA Executive Director, Natalia Kanem, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UN Women Executive Director, Sima Bahous, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk

“Following the vote today by the National Assembly of The Gambia, we commend the country’s decision to uphold the ban on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), reaffirming its commitments to human rights, gender equality, and protecting the health and well-being of girls and women.  “FGM involves cutting or removing some or…

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

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    • Sudan is in the grips of a humanitarian catastrophe. Up to 12 million people have fled their homes, 2 million of them to unstable neighbouring countries, and famine is looming in multiple areas.​​​​​​​ © UNFPA Sudan
    • An estimated 6.7 million people are at risk of gender-based violence in Sudan, with displaced, refugee and migrant women and girls particularly vulnerable. © UNFPA Sudan
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Source: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) |

Sexual violence and conflict in Sudan: A war on the bodies of women and girls

Over the past year, UNFPA reached more than 600,000 people with gender-based violence response services and supported 112,000 people to access medical and sexual and reproductive health services

Aisha* lost both her parents last year, aged just 17. “I was left alone at home. I couldn’t reach out to any of my relatives because the situation was extremely tense,” she told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. “Then an armed militia took over my neighbourhood…

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

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    • Obstetric fistula survivor Kadiatou Bah lived with the condition for nearly 20 years. © UNFPA Guinea/Sayon Idovic Loua
    • In the operating theatre of the Regional Hospital Labé, Dr. Kindi Diallo and his team perform surgery on a woman living with obstetric fistula © UNFPA Guinea/Sayon Idovic Loua
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Source: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) |

“I suffered a lot”: How United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) helps women in Guinea heal from obstetric fistula

With UNFPA’s support, the Government of Guinea has developed a national strategy to combat obstetric fistula, creating fistula management units across seven regions of the country

“It happened at the hospital. I realized I was leaking urine,” fistula survivor Kadiatou Bah told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency.  Ms. Bah first fell pregnant more than four decades ago, when she was 17. With few health centres on hand in her mountainous village in…

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Source: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) |

Hero’s journey: How United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) helps mothers in Madagascar to access emergency obstetric care

In recent years, three in five deliveries in Madagascar have occurred at home, many unassisted by skilled birth attendants

It was time to leave for the hospital. Samueline Razafindravao had intended to give birth at her home in southern Madagascar, but after encountering difficulties, decided to go to her local health centre. Once there, health staff realized she required urgent care they couldn’t provide – she would have to…

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Source: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) |

“You will thrive”: How a UNFPA-supported shelter empowers women and girls in Zambia to break free from abuse

Nearly half of all ever-married women aged 15 to 49 said they had survived emotional, physical or sexual violence by a husband or partner

“We began our life together from scratch. I was full of life, passion and blind love,” says mother-of-three Mwaka*. “Then, later, you find out who the person truly is.” At 22, Mwaka married a man she met through her mother. He had been hired to work as a science and…

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Source: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) |

A travelling theatre in Guinea-Bissau sparks conversations and changes minds about gender-based violence

To help counter practices such as female genital mutilation and child marriage, 25 actors from the National Ballet, the Nossa Patria Amada, performed three plays at local markets

“The piece on forced marriage touched my soul, because I am a victim of this harmful practice,” said Domingas* in Quinhamel, in the western Biombo region of Guinea-Bissau. “I speak with my mother every single day about my marriage to an older man, but she always says ‘these are our…

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Source: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) |

Empowering Somali Youth: Inauguration of the Berbera Youth Center

This event marked a significant milestone in UNFPA's commitment to empower Somali youth and women and foster their socio-economic development

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) along with the Somaliland Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Government of the Netherlands successfully inaugurated the Berbera Youth Center. This event marked a significant milestone in UNFPA's commitment to empower Somali youth and women and foster their socio-economic development.　 The establishment of…

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Source: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) |

Somali survivors of female genital mutilation advocate to change minds – and lives

Through their Joint Programme on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation, UNFPA and UNICEF support grassroots activists

“I used to feel fear when it was night time,” mother-of-two Nurto Abdi Osman told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Ms.Osman was seven years old when she was forced to undergo female genital mutilation. The dangerous procedure left her grappling in agony for days, bleeding until…

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Source: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) |

Champion of change: How a Tanzanian youth activist is rallying for gender equality in her community

Community leaders like Bhoke are working hard to change the trajectory of girls’ lives in Mara, and their advocacy – together with investments in programmes like Chaguo Langu Haki Yangu – have had tangible successes

“If only we had a community free from gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy, child marriage and female genital mutilation, then all girls would be able to achieve their dreams,” Tanzanian teenager Bhoke* told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Bhoke lives with her mother and two siblings in…