Ensuring rights and choices for all

Statement

Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem on the passing of former Secretary-General Kofi Annan

As United Nations Secretary-General, he stood up for the rights, health and dignity of women and girls.

News

Violence in Syria casts long shadow on refugee women, girls

“He insulted my sister, then he slapped her across the face,” said Bissal*, a Syrian refugee.

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News

From human bomb to paralegal, Boko Haram survivor helps heal her community

When Halima was only 15, her husband said they were going on a fishing trip. Instead, he took her to a Boko Haram...

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News

Relief for women facing treacherous journey to medical care in Guinea-Bissau

Until last month, if a woman needed an emergency Caesarean section on the island of Bubaque, she had to take a five-...

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Donate

With your donation, you help UNFPA in its mission to end maternal death, end unmet need for family planning, and end gender-based violence and harmful practices, including child marriage and female genital mutilation.
Speak Out

Raise your voice in support of women and girls. Join us on social media and spread the word that reproductive rights are human rights, no woman should die while giving life, and gender-based violence must end once and for all.
Work with Us

Join our dynamic, creative, international workplace! UNFPA works in more than 150 countries, and every role helps advance our mission to protect and promote human rights. Here, you truly can make a difference.

Ending preventable maternal deathLearn more

A post-partum mother with her newborn at the Al Thawra Hospital ward. © UNFPA Yemen

News

“I felt I was in hell” – Escalating hostilities threaten thousands of pregnant women in Yemen’s Hodeidah

Escalating violence in Hodeidah, Yemen, threatens the city’s estimated 90,000 pregnant women and girls.

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Family health houses are helping midwives provide reproductive health care in far-flung parts of Afghanistan. © UNFPA Afghanistan

News

Midwives deployed to remote Afghanistan to lower maternal death rate

By midnight, Khurshid, 35, was in serious trouble. Five months pregnant and bleeding heavily, she had passed out at...

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Feature

Join Ashley Judd and help save Rohingya mothers

There are 64,000 pregnant Rohingya women in Bangladesh, who urgently need vital maternal health care.

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Ending unmet need for family planningLearn more

Phoebe Tamondong, 25, learned about family planning through a UNFPA-supported programme at her company. © UNFPA Philippines/Mario Villamor

News

Companies reach more than 1 million with family planning information in Philippines

“I used to believe that jumping after sex prevented pregnancy,” said Phoebe Tamondong, 25, in Laguna Province, in the...

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Feature

Unsafe, unreliable: Dangerous pregnancy-prevention methods

Around the world, people are resorting to dangerous, ineffective methods to prevent pregnancy – an indication of the

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Video

Family planning at 50

On 13 May 1968, family planning was officially recognized as a human right at the International Conference on Human

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Ending gender-based violence and harmful practicesLearn more

Pregnant child brides need extra attention, says Huda, a UNFPA midwife in the Hayati Harrani women's and girl's safe space. “But our hands are tied because so few come for care.” © UNFPA Turkey/Usenabasi Esiet

News

In Turkey, refugee child marriages drive adolescent pregnancies underground

“These girls don’t go to the doctor regularly," said Huda, a UNFPA midwife. "Some probably give birth at home...

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Menstrual health is a serious, but overlooked, issue among vulnerable women. Refugees in Louva, Angola, receive UNFPA-distributed dignity kits, which include sanitary napkins, soap, laundry detergent and other essential hygiene supplies. © UNFPA/Tiril Skarstein

News

Period shame, misinformation linked to serious human rights concerns

A new report from Eastern and Southern Africa links shame and misinformation around menstruation to gender...

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Resources

Child marriage - Frequently Asked Questions

How common is child marriage? How is child marriage connected to teen pregnancy?

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UNFPA Transformative Results

END MATERNAL DEATH

Since 1990, maternal death has declined by 44 per cent. Still, some 830 women...Read more

Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births

Actual
UNFPA vision
SDG Target

Assuming all the maternal deaths are preventable

END UNMET NEED FOR FAMILY PLANNING

Family planning is central to women’s empowerment and sustainable...Read more

Unmet need for family planning

Actual
UNFPA vision
Projection

Women with unmet need are those, aged 15-49, who are married or in a union and want to stop or delay childbearing but are not using any method of contraception

END GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND ALL HARMFUL PRACTICES

Violence against women and girls remains a global pandemic. One in...Read more

Ending Child Marriage

Per cent of girls married/in union before age 15

Per cent of girls married/in union after age 15 but before age 18

Actual
UNFPA vision
SDG Target

Actual
UNFPA vision
SDG Target

ENDING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND HARMFUL PRACTICES

Violence against women and girls remains a global pandemic. One in...Read more

Global prevalence of female genital mutilation

Actual
UNFPA vision
SDG Target

ENDING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND HARMFUL PRACTICES

Violence against women and girls remains a global pandemic. One in...Read more

Prevalence of recent intimate partner violence

UNFPA vision
SDG Target

Per cent of women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months

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Data Portal Dashboards