10 August 2017
News
Asha Ali Ibrahim, a local circumciser, with her granddaughter, who is due to be cut this year. © UNFPA/Georgina Goodwin
For many girls, school holidays means FGM “cutting season”
HARGEISA – Asha Ali Ibrahim, 41, has been performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on girls in Diaami, Hargeisa and other parts of Somalia since 1997. July and August are her busiest months of the year. “This is the... Read more
20 January 2017
News
The outreach campaign provided antenatal care, postpartum services, family planning counselling and many other services. © UNFPA Somalia
Thousands reached in Somalia reproductive health campaign
MORODIJEEX – It was early morning when a young sheikh, Abdi Iidan, and his wife joined the long queue leading to a tent in Morodijeex, in north-western Somalia. Mr. Iidan stood out from the crowd; women dominated the... Read more
5 May 2016
News
Midwives on the frontlines of fighting maternal death in Somalia
LOWER SHABELLE, Somalia – Nine years ago, Maymuun Abdullahi Nur’s mother died giving birth to her eighth child, during a delivery attended only by an untrained traditional birth attendant. Just 13 at the time, Maymuun... Read more
10 August 2015
News
Fatima Abdi Ali (right) with other young people. Ms. Abdi Ali, 21, serves on the country's Youth Advisory Panel, promoting the role of young people in establishing a sustainable peace in Somalia. © Y-Peer Somalia
Young leaders make the case for peace in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia – Fatima Abdi Ali, 21, belongs to a very small minority of game-changers: young women activists pushing for progress in Somalia. Somalia’s youth face an uphill struggle. More than 75 per cent of the... Read more
9 April 2015
News
Edna Adan visits a maternal and child health center during a community outreach activity in Gumburaha. © Arthur Nazaryan/Delphin Films
Eliminating FGM one midwife at a time
HARGEISA – It was 9 p.m. when a little girl arrived in critical condition at the maternity teaching hospital in Hargeisa. She had been bleeding all day after undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) that morning. “... Read more
25 February 2015
News
A volunteer works in the community police unit in Garowe, Somalia. ©UNFPA/Pilirani Semu-Banda
Finding justice for survivors of gender-based violence in Somalia
PUNTLAND, Somalia – Sixteen-year-old Sahra* was herding goats in Puntland, Somalia, last September when a man approached her and asked for drinking water. She gave him the water, but then he grabbed her and, at... Read more
12 January 2015
News
A tent serves as a maternity waiting home in a settlements for displaced people in Mogadishu, Somalia's capital. © UNFPA Somalia/Ruth Solomon
A safe haven for pregnant women in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia – In the Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, 29-year-old Sharifa Abdullahi held her newborn with a growing sense of awe – and triumph. She had just survived a gruelling 18-hour labour that could have taken... Read more
30 May 2014
News
Somali midwifery school helps tackle harsh conditions for women
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia is one of the worst places in the world to be a woman, especially a pregnant woman. According to recent statistics, one in 18 Somali women die from complications of pregnancy or childbirth... Read more
2 April 2012
News
So Many Mouths to Feed: Addressing High Fertility in Famine-Stricken Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia – In Dabke camp for internally displaced persons in Mogadishu, Muno Abukar shares a tent with her eight children. Fleeing the famine, the family left their home in Lower Shabelle five months ago.... Read more
5 January 2012
News
In Mogadishu, Nothing Is Simple
MOGADISHU — Somalia Medina Hospital, one of Mogadishu’s two major hospitals, sits in a spacious compound in the western part of the capital. It focuses on trauma and emergency maternal medicine, treating several hundred... Read more

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