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“Never, ever” again – a former circumciser calls for an end to FGM
Asiya Hamed spent much of her life performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on girls in her community. She cannot remember how many girls she has cut, but she knows what the consequences have been.
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Girls’ rights: Goedele Liekens looks back on 15 years of progress
Today, on the International Day of the Girl Child, UNFPA’s Goodwill Ambassador Goedele Liekens reflects on how conditions have improved for girls’ health and rights over the last 15 years – and how much still has to be…
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The power of girls: African athletes call for gender equality, support for girls
The strength, power and potential of girls were unmistakable at the All African Games, held in Brazzaville last month, where many young female athletes were determined not only to win medals but also to advance the…
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Despite trauma, a little help goes a long way for Syrian refugees
“I’d just gotten off the night shift,” said ‘Aida*, a nurse, describing the morning her neighbourhood in Ghouta, Syria, was attacked with Sarin gas . “My son called out to me. He couldn’t see.” It was 21 August 2013.…
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Kenyan support centre offers care, hope to refugees from South Sudan
Every once in a while, Joyce Dabor is jolted from sleep by memories of the day she was separated from her children. It was the day they finally escaped the bloody conflict in South Sudan. Ms. Dabor was pregnant at the…
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Child marriage “shatters” the future of girls, communities
When Roukiatou Youssoupha Diallo, in rural Burkina Faso, was engaged to be married, she was not even 13 years old. The traditional practice, one embraced by her family and much of their community, was not intended to…
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African Union leaders pledge to invest in promise of young people
Young people must be prioritized, heads of states and ministers declared at a high-level consultative meeting held at the African Union Conference Hall in New York yesterday. “Youth can be critical agents for…
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Empowered girls can change the world, say UNFPA head and Ashley Judd
Young people are an engine for progress, but their potential future will go unfulfilled if they are not empowered, said UNFPA Executive Dr. Director Babatunde Osotimehin and actress and activist Ashley Judd, at the…
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In region assaulted by Boko Haram, women, young people key to stability
Thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in the Lake Chad Basin region, the result of a relentless and ongoing campaign of violence by Boko Haram insurgents.
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