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Child marriage takes a brutal toll on Syrian girls
DAMASCUS, Syria – “No girls want this life,” said Nour,* a 12-year-old girl from Aleppo, Syria, who was married to a 30-year-old man earlier this year. “Teenage Syrian girls are being forced into early marriages to save…
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Sierra Leone's contact tracers work to curtail Ebola outbreak
As Ebola infections continue to escalate at an alarming rate in West Africa, UNFPA-trained contact tracers in Sierra Leone are playing a vital role in mitigating the public health crisis.
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Displaced Iraqi women, youth receive psychosocial support
DUHOK, Iraq – Sixteen-year-old Nada* was already struggling to care for her family when her community was attacked by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS). Forced to flee their home in…
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Empowerment programmes help girls break free of violence
Fourteen-year-old Shamiso Nyamutamba has endured more than her share of tragedy. When she was three, her mother died. Two years later, her father also passed away. She went to live with an abusive uncle, and was nearly…
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Fear of health workers fuels Ebola crisis in Guinea
CONAKRY/NEW YORK – Panic over the Ebola outbreak in Guinea has inflamed distrust of health officials, impeding access to critical health services. UNFPA is reaching out to journalists and community leaders to dispel…
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Youth activists help adolescents beat the odds in remote Vanuatu
FIJI, South Pacific – When Bobby Shing’s grandmother died in 2001, it was a turning point. The musician from Aneityum, one of the most remote islands of Vanuatu, was just a child at the time, but he had already fallen…
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Safe delivery services come to Domiz refugee camp, Iraq
DUHOK, Iraq – "The clinic is always crowded," said Lava Abdul Rahman, a gynaecologist at the UNFPA maternity clinic in Domiz, a refugee camp in northern Iraq. Each day, between 30 and 35 pregnant women come to…
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Bearing witness to a revolution in women’s health and rights
UNITED NATIONS, New York – Next year, Munira Sha’ban will celebrate her 50th year working as a nurse and midwife. Her career has taken her all over the world, to the halls of the United Nations, and, through a…
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In one girl's stand against child marriage, a path forward for development
UNITED NATIONS, New York – “After I turned 16, my father wanted me to marry a 25-year-old man named Alhamza,” Nana, who is still 16 years old, told a room full of dignitaries and leaders at a high-level panel…
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