News on Sexual & reproductive health

14 June 2017
News
Access to contraceptives helped Hajja Fati finish her education. © UNFPA Nigeria/Kori Habib
Contraceptives a game changer for crisis-affected women in northern Nigeria
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – Despite the recent return of dozens of girls abducted by the insurgent group Boko Haram, the crisis in northern Nigeria remains acute, with mass movements  of civilian populations within the country... Read more
7 June 2017
News
UNFPA mobile teams have reached thousands of survivors of gender-based violence in Ukraine. © UNFPA/Maks Levin
For many women in Ukraine, escape from conflict not an escape from violence
IZIUM, Ukraine – Things started to fall apart for Mariana* when she was forced to flee fighting in the Donetsk region in 2016. She and her father camped on the doorsteps of social services centres until they managed to... Read more
2 June 2017
News
Health workers in Serbia receive UNFPA-provided medical supplies. UNFPA is supporting sexual and reproductive health care for refugees and migrants, but many women are not prioritizing their health. © UNFPA
Getting refugees and migrants to prioritize their reproductive health
SID, Serbia – Aliah*, a 28-year-old woman from Afghanistan, took an unusually brave step in April: She spoke with candour about her sexual and reproductive health needs at a workshop in Sid, a town in north-western... Read more
31 May 2017
News
The medical centre handles an assortment of issues, from maternal care to abuse. "There is a lot of domestic violence within the camp," said Adorable, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. © UNFPA
Betou medical staff work around the clock to serve village of refugees
BETOU, Republic of the Congo – “Some months we have more than 145 births at the centre – a lot, considering that we only are six midwives working here,” said Solange, a midwife at a medical centre in Betou, a village in... Read more
19 May 2017
News
Nurse Lydia Kasiya speaks with obstetric fistula survivor Nachilango Bisolomo at Monkey-bay Community Hospital. © UNFPA Malawi/Henry Chimbali
After 46 years of suffering, fistula survivor finds relief
MANGOCHI DISTRICT, Malawi – A phone call changed Nachilango Bisolomo’s life. For 46 years, she had suffered from an obstetric fistula, a stigmatizing injury caused by childbirth complications. Fistula causes... Read more
19 May 2017
News
Young people face myriad barriers to realizing their human rights, including poor access to education and health care. And girls are especially vulnerable, facing discrimination, violence and high rates of early pregnancy. © UNFPA
Young people call for education, health care, rights – and politicians are listening
MONROVIA, Liberia – Life is not often easy for Liberia’s young people. It has been 14 years since the end of a brutal civil war, but in many ways communities are still reeling. Poverty is rampant, school enrolment rates... Read more
4 May 2017
News
"We are rewarded when we hear the newborn’s cry and see the mother’s smile," said midwife Résia Pierre Pierre (right). © UNFPA Haiti
Midwives offer care, dignity and a lifeline for Haiti's mothers
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Elizabeth was exhausted after hours of contractions at the Petite Place Cazeau clinic, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Finally, with gentle guidance from the midwife, she gave one last push. Stifled... Read more
3 May 2017
News
"A mother’s trust in a midwife is the first medicine for a successful delivery," says Burcard Umuhoza, a midwife in Gisenyi, Rwanda. © UNFPA Rwanda/Maureen Twahirwa
To reduce maternal deaths, look to midwives
GISENYI, Rwanda – “Mothers and babies lose their lives due to complications that could have been prevented,” Burcard Umuhoza, 28, told UNFPA in a frank conversation about the trials he faces as a midwife in the Gisenyi... Read more
1 May 2017
News
“There has been an exodus of qualified midwives and reproductive health professionals,” Shatha Al Mostafa told UNFPA. © UNFPA/Nadine Cornier
Heroic midwives save lives amid Syria’s chaos
GAZIANTEP, Turkey – Midwife Shatha Al Mostafa started her career at the most difficult time possible – amid the escalating violence, insecurity and human rights abuses in her home country, Syria. Since graduating from... Read more
25 April 2017
News
Indigenous girls in northern Guatemala must often travel great distances to get to school, a factor that leads to high drop out rates. Bicycles help them stay in school. © UNFPA/Alejandro De León
With bicycles, impoverished indigenous girls in Guatemala get a taste of freedom
CHISEC, Guatemala – Like many girls in Pecajbá, in Guatemala, Gladys Azucena Cho Cuc was forced to drop out when she reached secondary school. The high school was simply too far from home. In rural communities around... Read more

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