Ashley Judd, UNFPA launch fundraising campaign to help Rohingya refugee mothers deliver safely

UNITED NATIONS, New York--Nearly 700,000 Rohingya refugees currently live in Kutupalong, Bangladesh, in the largest and most densely populated refugee camp in the world.  Many are women and girls who have suffered unspeakable trauma and violence on their journey to safety. Among them are more than 64,000 pregnant women who urgently need maternal health care to save them and their babies.

UNFPA, the United Nations reproductive health and rights agency, is the lead agency on the ground providing life-saving services to ensure every childbirth is safe. But shortages of supplies and trained midwives continue to threaten the lives of mothers and their children.
 
UNFPA and its Goodwill Ambassador Ashley Judd are launching a campaign today to raise funds to help deliver vital maternal health services and ensure no mother dies while giving life. Every dollar will make a difference.  

All donations will help Rohingya refugee mothers deliver their babies safely by funding clean delivery kits and trained midwives. For a pregnant woman and her baby, these simple tools can make the difference between life and death.
 
A clean delivery kit contains soap and disposable gloves, a plastic sheet that provides a clean surface to protect both mother and newborn, and a fresh razor blade, antiseptic and tape to prevent infection when the umbilical cord is cut. 
 
Each midwife provides care that can save the lives of many mothers and their babies.  UNFPA has already deployed 60 midwives to the Rohingya refugee camps, but 100 more midwives are needed to cover the entire population.

What can donations achieve?
 
•    $25 provides clean delivery kits for 5 mothers.
•    $150 provides clean delivery kits for 30 mothers.
•    $400 funds a midwife in the community for 1 month.
•    $1,200 funds a midwife for 3 months – throughout the monsoon season.

Every tax-deductible donation will be matched dollar for dollar to help us reach more women and their babies before it’s too late.

To donate to the campaign and get your peers to donate, please visit: www.unfpa.org/rohingya  

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For more information, please contact: Eddie Wright, +1 212 297 2717, ewright@unfpa.org