Africa: Five Things You Need to Know About Consent to Sex

Everyone has the right to make their own choices about their bodies. Yet millions of people are denied their right to say no to sex - or yes to the choice of a marriage partner or… Read more »

Congo-Kinshasa: Beating the Odds - Resilience, Hope and Safe Births At a UNFPA Mobile Clinic in the DRC

NORTH KIVU PROVINCE, Democratic Republic of the Congo - Although heavily pregnant and in pain, Kaindo Bembeleza waited patiently along with dozens of other women on a row of… Read more »

Africa: Women of African Descent Continue to Carry the Torch for Justice Amid Longstanding Inequities

Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem on the International Day for People of African Descent 2023 Read more »

Congo-Kinshasa: 'Sometimes She Was Desperate' - How Survivors of Sexual Violence in the DRC Are Healing With the Help of UNFPA's Frontline Workers

NORTH KIVU PROVINCE  - "I was going to fetch firewood from the forest to cook food for myself and my six children, when I came across armed men." Read more »

Tanzania: Using Art and Animation to Strike Down Female Genital Mutilation in Tanzania

Glory Charles Mlagwa, 25, is a medical expert and public health specialist. She is the winner of the 2022 Spotlight Initiative-supported FGM (female genital mutilation) Hackathon,… Read more »

Southern Africa: UNFPA Esaro Launches 2023 'We Scale' FGM Hacklab

Imagine a world where every idea has the power to change lives, where young visionaries like you can shape the future. We've already witnessed the immense potential of UNFPA East… Read more »

Rwanda: Putting Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights At Front and Centre

Community engagement has been regarded as a vital component to ensure that adolescents and young people have access to information on Sexual and Reproductive Health and rights… Read more »

Mozambique: 'Parents Thank Us for the Choices Their Daughters Make' - the Power of Youth Mentors in Reducing Teenage Pregnancy and Child Marriage

Mozambique It was a tough challenge that met strong resistance. But the group of young women that promote sexual and reproductive health among their peers in Montepuez could not… Read more »

Africa: Statement By UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem On the Attempted Criminalization of Homosexuality

Human rights are inherent to all human beings, and these rights are guaranteed for every person, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. Read more »

Malawi: Hacked With a Machete By Her Husband, Young Woman Gets Justice With Spotlight Initiative Support

Anna Salima, 24, has painful memories of her two marriages. With her first marriage, it took her just a week to realize she had married the wrong man. Yet she stayed for five… Read more »

Angola: How Technology Is Improving the Quality of Maternal Health Care in Drought-Affected Angola

"It is very gratifying to be able to accompany a pregnant woman from her first consultation until delivery," says Leonor Teles Daniel, a nurse at Namacunde municipal hospital in… Read more »

Botswana: Achieving Her Dream and Promoting Rights - Journey of a Young Woman With a Disability

Raised by a single mother in the village of Rasesa, Tsaone Mosweu was born with a genetic eye disorder that would impair her vision. "At age 10, I developed cataracts and had… Read more »

Africa: Time to Close the Deep Disparities That Leave So Many Persons With Disabilities Behind

Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2022 Read more »

Africa: Global Quest to End FGM By 2030 'Needs All Hands On Deck'

UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation is acelerating efforts to end FGM Read more »

Africa: High-Level Commission On Nairobi Summit Endorses Justice Framework to Accelerate Commitments and Counter Backlash Against Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

The High-Level Commission on the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 Follow-up has launched a groundbreaking new report making sexual and reproductive justice a vehicle for delivering on… Read more »

Africa: Neglected Crisis of Unintended Pregnancies Has Lifelong Impact - UN Report

Nearly half of all pregnancies, totalling 121 million worldwide each year, are unintended, explains the State of World Population 2022 report, released at a high-level event to… Read more »

Africa: International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict

When wars begin, so does the terror and devastation of sexual violence. The bodies of women and girls become battlefields. Rape is used as a weapon of war just as surely as the… Read more »

Mozambique: Equal Rights for People With Albinism - 'The Blood That Runs in Our Veins Is the Same'

When she was younger, Bastina Agostinho's mother abandoned her because she has albinism, a rare and genetically inherited condition present from birth. Read more »

Madagascar: Midwife Helps a Mother Deliver Safely in UNFPA-Supplied Tent in Cyclone-Affected Madagascar #AfricaClimateCrisis

At mid-afternoon, a special baby lets out her first cry. Weighing a healthy 2.5kgs, Noelia has just been born in a tent serving as a temporary maternity ward at Mananjary's… Read more »

South Sudan: Women and Girls Battle Mounting Sexual Violence Amid Conflict and Climate Crises #AfricaClimateCrisis

"I used to collect firewood, make charcoal, and sell fresh milk to help meet our family's needs," Nyachar Gatneay Rial, 38, told UNFPA. "Now I have to sell tea in the local market… Read more »

Uganda: Act Collectively to End the Crisis of Teenage Pregnancy in Uganda

Uganda's "serious problem" of teenage pregnancy requires collective action to prevent and respond to the crisis - and new reports by UNFPA and the Government of Uganda will be… Read more »

Africa: 7 Myths About Unintended Pregnancy Debunked

Half. That is the alarmingly high proportion of pregnancies that girls and women do not deliberately choose. Read more »

Angola: Tackling One of the World's Highest Teenage Pregnancy Rates, to Give Girls a Better Future

"I have had doors closed in my face many times, but my desire to bring knowledge to young people and adolescents in order to avoid unwanted pregnancy has no end," said Stela… Read more »

East Africa: Promoting Positive Masculinities for Centring an Inclusive Covid-19 Recovery

UN Women and UNFPA regional offices in East and Southern Africa are collaborating toward growing a movement for positive masculinity and meaningful engagement of men and boys in… Read more »

Uganda: Cast From Her Home - Fourteen-Year-Old Girl Rejects Mother's Demands to Marry Man Aged 35

Fourteen-year-old Ruth* dreams of becoming a pilot, but last year she discovered her mother's plans to marry her off - to a man more than twice her age. This spelled disaster for… Read more »