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Changing minds to help child brides in Cameroon
“My father forced me into marriage at the age of 14 – to a man I barely even knew,” Aminatou Bello, now 16, told UNFPA in Maroua, in the extreme north of Cameroon. The marriage quickly turned violent. “I was being…
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After marriage at age 9, a former child bride gets a second chance
Shukria was married off at just 9 years old. The wedding was arranged to settle a debt her family owed to a 50-year-old man. “He told my father he would forget the debt and give even more money if he could take me as…
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In Costa Rica, from teen mom to girls’ rights advocate
When Hillary Bustos Gómez found herself pregnant at 16, she was not prepared for the challenges ahead. “The first months were the hardest. I couldn’t get used to the idea. ‘What am I going to do with a baby, all by…
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Not just a women’s issue: Men in Myanmar take on gender-based violence
Five years ago, armed conflict engulfed Nam San Yam Village in northern Myanmar, forcing Aung Htwe to flee for his life. Since then, he has lived in the Maina AG displacement camp, unable to return home. Yet even in…
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10 New Year’s resolutions to help change the world
War and persecution achieved a terrible new milestone this year: More people are displaced from their homes than ever before in human history, the UN Refugee Agency announced in June. And progress seems painfully slow:…
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Largest humanitarian aid delivery reaches tens of thousands in Mosul
The largest single humanitarian aid delivery in eastern Mosul was completed today. It was the first time in two weeks security conditions permitted humanitarian agencies to reach the area.
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After long nightmare in Ukraine, displaced family finds peace
Tetiana* and her husband were abducted and savagely abused after conflict broke out in Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine. After months of torment, they and their nine children were driven from their home and forced to start…
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New device brings midwifery education to remote, offline communities
A powerful new tool is training midwives, health professionals and individuals in poor and remote locations. Piloted in March in Ethiopia and Tanzania, this tool, a mobile, solar-powered projector pre-loaded with health…
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Namibian hackathon takes on scourge of gender violence
In many ways, Lelanie Basson is the picture of an empowered woman. But the best-selling Namibian author and entrepreneur remembers darker times: an abusive relationship that turned her life upside down. “He would…
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