Africa: Explainer - What Is UNFPA and Why Does It Matter?

Choosing whether, when and with whom to have a baby. Giving birth safely. Living free of sexual and gender-based violence. These are rights now enshrined in international law, yet… Read more »

Mozambique: 'This Support Gives Us Hope' - a Journey to Motherhood in the Midst of Tropical Cyclone Chido

When Tropical Cyclone Chido tore through northern Mozambique in December 2024, 26-year-old Massiala Agostinho was eight months pregnant with her fifth child. Read more »

Egypt: In Egypt, Men and Boys Stand Firm Against Female Genital Mutilation

"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… Read more »

Chad: 'I Came to Help My Sisters' - As Chad Grapples With Record Floods and a Refugee Crisis, Midwives Are Bridging the Divide

"The water ruined everything - the rice, the money... Everything is under water." In October 2024, Gloria Nadjitessem, 31, lost her home in Chad's capital N'Djamena to devastating… Read more »

Africa: Do You Know Your Rights? Protections From Gender-Based Violence Amid Displacement

Disasters and wars drive people from their homes and into displacement, insecurity, and skyrocketing risk of abuses like rape, child marriage and trafficking. Read more »

Sudan: Women Deliver Babies On the Road and Under Fire As Catastrophe Grips Sudan's Aj Jazirah State

This was Amina's fifth delivery by Caesarean section, but the first performed on the floor of a stranger's home. "I had to start walking again just six hours later, carrying my… Read more »

Tanzania: Tanzanian Women Highlight the Path From Bodily Autonomy to Sustainable Development

"When I learned about family planning, I felt like I had control over my life," said Mwanaisha Rajabu, a 28-year-old mother of three living in Fuoni, a village on the Unguja island… Read more »

Sudan: 'You Don't See Young Women in Some Camps' - Harrowing Reports of Sexual Violence and Healthcare Attacks in Sudan's Aj Jazirah State

"Some parents were killed while trying to protect their daughters from being raped," said Sara*, a counsellor in Sudan's eastern Aj Jazirah state and one of many health workers… Read more »

Ethiopia: A Sisterhood of Support - Improving Maternity Care in Ethiopia's Climate Change-Ravaged Somali Region

Abeba Birhanu, a 46-year-old midwife, has spent more than half her life delivering babies at the Karamara Hospital in Jigjiga, the capital of Ethiopia's Somali region. Throughout… Read more »

Nigeria: Responders to Nigeria's Flood Crisis Are Themselves Affected By Crisis

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… Read more »

Zimbabwe: UNFPA Supports Stepped-Up Efforts to Prevent Adolescent Pregnancy in Zimbabwe

"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… Read more »

Cameroon: Humanitarian Response Enables Safe Childbirth Amid Cameroon's Catastrophic Floods

"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… Read more »

Tanzania: Empowering Young Tanzanians to Choose Their Own Paths

KIGOMA REGION, The United Republic of Tanzania - Melania Zambiliti wanted something more for herself and her family; working part-time as a cleaner at a local restaurant in her… Read more »

Uganda: Female Genital Mutilation Leads to Death in Childbirth, a Preventable Tragedy Ugandan Community Members Assert

"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… Read more »

Cameroon: Boosting Trust and Skilled Birth Attendance in Cameroon's Health Facilities

Toukam Mirabelle had been told that twin pregnancies hardly ever go beyond eight and half months, yet she was past even her regular due date. Read more »

Uganda: Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem On the Murder of Rebecca Cheptegei

UNFPA strongly condemns the violent murder of Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei by her ex-partner. We mourn her passing and extend condolences to her family and loved… Read more »

Sudan: 'Hope Had No Place in Our Hearts' - UNFPA Mobile Health Teams Treat Pregnant Women Fleeing Violence in Sudan

Under shelling and gunfire, 32-year-old Esraa cradled her newborn son. As the war in Sudan broke out in April 2023, she was trying to reach a health clinic for treatment for her… Read more »

Cote d'Ivoire: 'Bringing Smiles to Mothers and Babies' - Midwives Promote Safe Births At Nimbo Health Centre in Côte d'Ivoire

Entrepreneur Rosine Gnohou was at a prenatal check-up when the midwife she was seeing delivered some concerning news: Her amniotic fluid levels were low. Read more »

Zambia: Child Marriage, HIV and Hunger On the Rise for Women and Girls

"They don't have any food, and the teenagers can become vulnerable," said nurse Suvannah Sinakaaba, in the village of Hakankula in Zambia's Monze District. "HIV rates are quite… Read more »

Cameroon: UNFPA-Supported Tech Innovations Advancing the Rights of Women and Girls in Cameroon, Kenya and Turkmenistan

Technology has transformed people's ability to meet their sexual and reproductive health needs and claim their rights, serving as a gateway to information, revolutionizing… Read more »

Sudan: Sexual Violence and Conflict in Sudan - a War On the Bodies of Women and Girls

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… Read more »

Burundi: UNFPA-Supported Surgeries Help Survivors of Obstetric Fistula to Advocate for Others in Burundi

"During my contractions, my mother-in-law and my own mother refused to let me go to the health centre to give birth," Gloriose Mbonimpa told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and… Read more »

Africa: 5 Reasons Why Menstruation Support Is Critical in a Humanitarian Crisis

Every month, nearly 2 billion people menstruate, but gender inequality, poverty and other forms of marginalization mean the world has still not adapted to become period-friendly.… Read more »

Guinea: 'I Suffered a Lot' - How UNFPA Helps Women in Guinea Heal From Obstetric Fistula

"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. Read more »

Djibouti: Women Leaders in Djibouti Speak Out Against Gender-Based Violence and Harmful Practices

"There are so many young girls who get pregnant and have hidden, illegal abortions. Young girls are forced into sex work, and many are forced to undergo female genital mutilation." Read more »