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

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) supports stepped-up efforts to prevent adolescent pregnancy in Zimbabwe

Pregnancy and childbirth are among the world’s top drivers of preventable death for adolescent girls

“I had sex thinking he loved me. But when I fell pregnant, I saw a very unexpected side of him,” 20-year-old Olivia Nyangasi told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency.  Ms. Nyangasi had never been taught how to practice safe sex. At 17, she became pregnant; but…

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

Humanitarian response enables safe childbirth amid Cameroon’s catastrophic floods

198,000 people have received services designed to prevent and respond to gender-based violence – which is known to increase in times of conflict, stress and trauma

“Our village was peaceful until these armed men appeared, sowing terror and death,” Aicha* told UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, recalling a night three years ago when her village was attacked.  "They slaughtered two men, right in front of me,” she said. “"We fled, leaving everything behind.”…

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

Female genital mutilation leads to death in childbirth, a preventable tragedy Ugandan community members assert

As of 2022, some 0.2 percent of women aged 15-49 had been cut, according to surveys, but with considerable variation within the country

“My sister should not have passed away in the way she did,”  Josephine Telo told a group of women who had survived female genital mutilation. This was the practice – the mutilation of a woman or girl’s genitals for no medical reason – that killed her sister.  Ms. Telo and her sister,…

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

10 Ways to Address Intimate Partner violence in the Face of Climate Change

Extreme heat and environmental stress can trigger aggressive behaviors and conflicts, leaving women particularly vulnerable to physical and emotional abuse

As mothers in Malawi are forced to move because of extreme flooding, in Zambia a family of five packs their belongings and leaves their village because of drought. All through the East and Southern Africa Region, the effects of climate change are making themselves known, and while they force migration,…

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

Strength in crisis - one woman’s #ActforHumanity in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Violence in the country has left some 7.2 million people internally displaced, more than 860,000 of them are women of childbearing age–leaving them incredibly vulnerable

Strength and leadership most often emerge from the most challenging and vulnerable places. For Deheve Machazo, witnessing the dire conditions for women and girls in an internal displacement site was a turning point. “I can't stay silent while women and girls are in the dark about contraception. I’ve decided to…

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

Investing for impact: Latest on Kenya’s Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Development Impact Bond

The first-of-its-kind program was launched in Kenya in 2023 to improve access to sexual and reproductive health information and services for adolescent girls

At a government-run dispensary located in Nairobi’s Kware informal settlement, 26-year-old nurse Steven Ngang’a attends to young mothers holding their babies. The girls, all aged between 15-19 years are here to access family planning and HIV services, after enrolling on Tiko, a digital platform that connects adolescents to youth-friendly sexual…

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,…