News on Gender-based violence

16 August 2019
News
Police Officer Chrestine Espinorio, Dr. Nadhira Abdulcarim and social worker Umme Limbona work together to support survivors of violence at a hospital-based crisis centre. © UNFPA Philippines/Mario Villamor
All-women team provides life-saving humanitarian support in Marawi
MARAWI CITY, Philippines – In May 2017, 26-year-old Umme Limbona, found herself trapped inside the Amai Pakpak Medical Center in Marawi City. The city had been seized by a local armed group inspired by the Islamic State... Read more
24 July 2019
News
Women UN leaders meet with female leaders and advocates in Kabul, Afghanistan. Women's voices must be heard, they emphasized. © Fardin Waezi / UNAMA
Women belong at the centre of peace efforts, women UN leaders urge in Afghanistan
Kabul, Afghanistan/UNITED NATIONS, New York – UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem joined a high-level delegation of women UN leaders on an intensive two-day “solidarity mission” to Afghanistan to highlight the... Read more
15 July 2019
News
Venezuelan migrants on the Colombian border. © /Tomer Urwicz
Venezuelan volunteers provide humanitarian relief to migrants, refugees
CUCUTA, Colombia; BOA VISTA, Brazil; ESMERALDAS-SUCUMBIOS, Ecuador; TUMBES, Peru – Economic and political upheaval in Venezuela continue to fuel a mass exodus of migrants and refugees from the country. Some 4 million... Read more
10 July 2019
News
Twenty-five years ago, 179 governments adopted a visionary Programme of Action that aimed to safeguard the health and rights of women and girls and to promote their empowerment. © UNFPA Morocco
Twenty-five years ago, leaders promised to advance women’s health and rights. Have they delivered?
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Twenty-five years ago, at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, 179 governments adopted a visionary Programme of Action that aimed to safeguard the health and... Read more
21 June 2019
News
A Syrian refugee in northern Iraq. © UNFPA/Seivan Salim
Child bride, mother of seven, refugee and, today, an independent woman
DOHUK, Iraq – “I was only 12 years old when I got married to my 25-year-old cousin,” Najma*, from a Syria, told UNFPA recently. “My mother entered my room at around 5 pm while I was sitting on the floor, colouring in my... Read more
12 June 2019
News
Participants in the ‘Beauty for All’ course show off their new skills at a graduation ceremony in April. Photo courtesy of L’Oréal
Beauty for the brave: Abuse survivors learn to make it on their own
KYIV, Ukraine – Not long ago, Olena* feared for her life and for her children. For years, husband assaulted her physically and sexually. He threatened to kill her if she ever left. But she found the strength to protect... Read more
5 June 2019
News
Large numbers of people are bypassing immigration controls as they exit Venezuela. © Tomer Urwicz
Dignity and strength: Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Colombia
CÚCUTA, Colombia – Not long ago, 15-year-old Nelsmar attended a middle-class school in central Venezuela. That was before her family was uprooted by the economic and humanitarian crisis in her country, which has pushed... Read more
28 May 2019
News
UNFPA holds sessions raising awareness about gender-based violence, and the availability of support services, in a displacement camp in Yemen. © UNFPA Yemen
A nightmare within a nightmare: Taking on sexual and gender-based violence in humanitarian crises
SANA’A, Yemen/OSLO, Norway – When Maram* showed up at her parents' house, battered and bruised by her husband, her mother urged her to be less stubborn, more obedient – anything to avoid a divorce. It was a nightmare... Read more
28 May 2019
News
In India, 15-year-old Priyanka Meena sleeps outside her home when she has her periods. She wears the same clothes and uses the same utensils when she menstruates; these are believed to be unclean. © UNFPA India
Menstruation is not a girls' or women’s issue – it’s a human rights issue
JUBA/COX’S BAZAR/UNITED NATIONS – “My periods are a nightmare,” Nyanjuma Galoth, 20, told UNFPA at a civilian protection camp in South Sudan. “They are very painful, and I can’t get any sanitary products.”It is a major... Read more
29 April 2019
News
Dr. Joha attends to a displaced woman at Al-Hol Camp. The needs were "overwhelmingly high," he said. © UNFPA Syria
Caught in the crossfire: Urgent needs in north-east Syria
Al-Hassakeh, Syria – Vulnerable civilians were caught in the crossfire as hostilities intensified in north-eastern Syria in recent weeks. “I took out around 160 pieces of shrapnel from the bodies of women and children... Read more

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