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

“Life is dangerous for women in this camp”: In the Central African Republic, survivors of sexual violence lose critical support as funding is slashed

In 2025, UNFPA needs US$16.5 million for its programmes in the Central African Republic, especially for the most underserved communities

 “Life is dangerous for women in this camp,” said Mariam Zakaria, 32, who recently fled brutal violence and conflict in Sudan, returning to the Central African Republic, her home country. “If you want to work, someone might not hire you unless they can take advantage of you. And if a…

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

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    • Women and girls in the village of Otoy in Djibouti’s Tadjourah region, where a community-led movement has successfully lobbied to abandon female genital mutilation. ©UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation/AGENCE NEUVIEME
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Source: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) |

“The new generation is different”: In Djibouti, survivors and allies lobby to end female genital mutilation

Over 230 million girls and women worldwide are survivors of the practice, and an estimated 27 million more are at risk of being subjected to it in the next five years

“I still see the knife, and the lady who held me down,” said Hawa’a Mohamed Kamil. Now 30, she was subjected to female genital mutilation at just six years old – an experience that left not only physical but also psychological scars. “I’m afraid of men, of everyone, of everything,”…

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

In Egypt, men and boys stand firm against female genital mutilation

An estimated 86 per cent of ever-married women, aged 15 to 49, in Egypt have undergone some form of the procedure, rising to 96 per cent in Upper Egypt

“People tell me we inherited this practice – that they’re doing it because their neighbours are doing it,” Georgi Wahba told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. In his village in the Minya Governorate of Upper Egypt, Mr. Wahba, 53, has become well known for his advocacy…

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

Responders to Nigeria’s flood crisis are themselves affected by crisis

More than 1 million people in Nigeria require assistance amid the current crisis, and Borno State is the worst hit, with more than 400,000 people displaced

Flash floods throughout West and Central Africa have left more than 5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance across Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Nigeria and other countries in the region. Torrential rainfall has disrupted access to essential services and increased the threat of disease, including a regional outbreak of cholera. The humanitarian response has…

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…

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