News on Youth leadership & participation

12 August 2019
News
When supported and empowered, young people can change the world. “I want to help Uganda,” says Edith Nambalirwa, a peer educator. “If I cannot do it with money, let me do it with knowledge.” © UNFPA ESARO/Corrie Butler
Helping young people take charge of their bodies, their lives, our world
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Every year on 12 August, leaders around the world commemorate International Youth Day. On this day, powerful figures have praised the contributions of young people. They have called for more... 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
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
10 April 2019
News
Marta Paula, from Guinea-Bissau, was hospitalized when she gave birth at 13. Doctors were worried she might die. Today, she calls for young people to have access to family planning. © UNFPA/I. Barbosa
Vast numbers of women lack decision-making power over their own bodies, says UNFPA flagship report
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Reproductive rights and choices have become a reality for more women than ever, says UNFPA’s flagship report, State of World Population 2019, released today. Yet despite these gains, vast... Read more
18 January 2019
News
Young people outside a youth-friendly health centre in Kamenge, Bujumbura. © UNFPA/Chiara Frisone
In Burundi, sexual health education helps youth protect themselves, their futures
BUJUMBURA, Burundi – “During my youth, I had to abort four times,” said Cecile Nshimirimana*, a student in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura. The procedures were illegal – in Burundi, abortion is permitted only to save a... Read more
10 January 2019
News
Condoms at a UNFPA-supported mobile clinic. Sithu, 21, did not know how to protect himself from HIV. © UNFPA/Yenny Gamming
“Why me?” – Stigma, lack of information leave Myanmar youth in the dark on HIV
YANGON, Myanmar – “If I had known about safe sex in my teens, my life would never have turned out this way,” 21-year-old Sithu* told UNFPA. He contracted HIV two years ago. Sithu had always dreamed of working abroad to... Read more
12 November 2018
News
When her friend became unexpectedly pregnant at an early age, Azlifa sought a way to share sexual and reproductive health information with other young people kept in the dark about their bodies. © UNFPA Maldives/Tatiana Almeida
Youth advocates for family planning break taboos in the Maldives
MALE’, Maldives – When Azlifa was 11 years old, something troubling happened to her friend. “She dropped out of school,” Azlifa remembers. “Her family was very upset. Everyone on the island – it was a very small... Read more
30 October 2018
News
Five things you didn’t know about disability and sexual violence
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Fifteen per cent of the world’s population lives with a disability, and nearly 200 million are between the ages of 10 and 24. Yet they are often invisible in government statistics. Girls and... Read more
9 October 2018
News
Girls and women in Syria’s Areesha camp have flocked to UNFPA-supported safe spaces for health and social services, including literacy courses. ©UNFPA Syria
In Syria, safe spaces for women and girls provide more than protection
AL HASSAKEH, Syria – Ghalia*, 18, never went to school. There were none in her village. Instead, she worked in the fields alongside her sisters and father, despite his lifelong dream for the girls. “My father always... Read more
25 September 2018
News
UN Youth Strategy commits support to a new generation of leaders
UNITED NATIONS, New York – The world is home to 1.8 billion people between the ages of 10 and 24. Nearly 90 per cent live in developing countries.  Young people worldwide contend with poverty, discrimination, violence,... Read more

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