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In Costa Rica, indigenous youth leaders are blazing a trail toward a better future for women and girls
Cheymi Gallardo Sánchez became a mother at age 15. In her rural community in the Cabécar indigenous territory, deep in the Talamanca mountains, adolescent motherhood is common. Talamanca is one of the cantons with the…
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Conflict fuelling sexual violence in northern Ethiopia
"We tried to flee on the back of a truck, but they caught us. They took me away, raped me and left me in the bush.” Mahlet* was just 17 when she fled her home in November 2021 to escape the conflict raging in…
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Speaking out for sexual and reproductive health and rights in Egypt
“The village is very conservative, so it was a challenge to earn their trust,” said Salma Abdel Moneim, a reproductive health worker in Menufiya, in northern Egypt. Through a UNFPA-supported population awareness club,…
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Fear and optimism as world population poised to reach 8 billion – amid historic fertility slowdown
The United Nations announced today that the world’s population is expected to reach 8 billion on 15 November 2022 – a milestone for humanity – and in 2023 India is projected to become the most populous country,…
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Gender and income inequalities driving teenage motherhood in developing countries, new report confirms
Almost one third of women in developing countries had their first baby while they were still in their teens, a recently released report shows, with nearly half of those new mothers aged 17 and younger – still children…
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Ukrainian refugees in Moldova guaranteed access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services
KYIV, Ukraine – “I caught the last evacuation train out. The next day, the station was bombed.” Katya is still haunted by the very different turn her life could have taken.
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Sexual violence in conflict: Overlooked, under-reported and in danger of being “normalized”
As militants boasted about how they would divide the girls among themselves, Khetam*, a Syrian refugee in Iraq, feared for her life. “Two commanders had chosen me and my friend as their brides,” she recalled to UNFPA.…
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Women journalists threatened with sexual violence, hate speech
“I have gone to the police after receiving threats of violence,” Nistula Hebbar told UNFPA, describing the relentless onslaught of abuse she experiences online. As a politics reporter for The Hindu, her words and her…
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With emergency obstetric care elusive, pregnant women in Yemen face tragic consequences
An internally displaced woman named Hamsa* in labour arrived at Maifa’a Mother and Child Centre in Hadramout Governorate, known to provide free obstetric services, only to discover medical personnel gone and delivery…
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