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Shattering five myths about sexual violence in emergencies
Common misconceptions about gender-based violence end up stigmatizing survivors and undermining efforts to keep people safe. World Humanitarian Day is an opportunity to recognize that the world’s humanitarian…
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Mobile clinics deliver essential care to women and girls in remote Haiti
Delicate and petite, Nélia is 25 but looks like a teenager. She has already been pregnant three times, and has endured more than her share of tragedy. She lives in Pichon, a remote community in Belle-Anse, where the…
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For many girls, school holidays means FGM “cutting season”
Asha Ali Ibrahim, 41, has been performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on girls in Diaami, Hargeisa, and other parts of Somalia since 1997. July and August are her busiest months of the year. “This is the peak season…
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Tens of thousands of girls reached through Mozambique empowerment programme
“Some adolescent girls will leave school to marry for money,” 21-year-old Edma told UNFPA. “Some are engaging in unsafe sexual behaviours, unaware of the risks and their rights.” Edma sees these realities every day. And…
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Teen pregnancies, and attendant health risks, a major concern in El Salvador
“I could have died the day my son was born,” said Evelyn*, who became pregnant when she was only 13. Her pregnancy was complicated, and she spent most of the time bedridden and in constant discomfort.
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Midwifery hotline offers emergency support in Afghanistan
“It was seven in the morning, and I had not yet started my working day, when Hafsa* was brought to the clinic with normal labour pains,” said Mahbooba, a midwife in Afghanistan. Everything seemed fine until the new…
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Contraceptives reach rural women through pioneering system
Nan Aye Aye Lwin walked for three hours to reach the Nam Khoke Rural Health Centre. When she arrived, in the late afternoon, the anxiety was apparent on her face.
She has two children, she told the clinic…
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Cursed no more – women in western Ethiopia reject childbirth alone in the bush
Three times, Abebech Kabla has given birth alone in the woods. Each time, she thought she might die. The first time, she was only 13 years old, a year into her marriage. “Even after giving birth, I didn't go back…
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“I thought I might die”: Pregnant women struggle to access care in embattled Syria
Ruqayya was pregnant when she fled the embattled city of Deir ez-Zor, in north-eastern Syria, with her husband and two young children. The family took refuge in Al-Areesheh camp, in Al-Hasakah Governorate – but Ruqayya’…
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