2021
Annual Report
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For every woman and girl
Last year, a once-in-a-century pandemic
disrupted nearly every facet of our lives, from how we work to
where we live. But this pandemic
hasn’t affected everyone equally. As UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem said, “COVID-19 is indeed a crisis with a woman’s face.”
Women and girls have shouldered the burden of COVID-19. They made up 70 percent of frontline health care workers. They took on an even greater share of unpaid labor, like housework, elder care, and child care. Millions of women and girls have permanently dropped out of school and the workforce due to their increased responsibilities. And, they were more vulnerable to violence from their partners and family members while in lockdown.
The pandemic proved that, despite immense and evolving challenges, as a global community we are capable of making incredible progress toward a healthier, safer and more inclusive world.
In the United States, the murder of George Floyd sparked a movement demanding an end to police brutality and a reckoning of the inequality Black Americans and other people of color face in the criminal justice system, in health care, in schools, and in corporate settings. The disparate impact of COVID-19 on poorer countries, often populated by people of color and with a legacy of colonization, has led to calls for diverse global leadership and equitable solutions.
UNFPA’s work is paramount to reaching this future. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, UNFPA has ensured continuous access to lifesaving sexual and reproductive health care to women and girls around the world, including those in
refugee or migrant camps, those surviving climate disasters, and those in conflict
zones. UNFPA has adapted to the pandemic by providing supplies before they are needed, and by utilizing telehealth services, hotlines, and mobile health clinics.
In March 2020, UNFPA predicted that 7 million women would experience unintended pregnancy due to coronavirus-related lapses in family planning. But after one year of innovation and adaptation, there were only 1.4 million unintended pregnancies. While that number is still far too high, it proves that UNFPA was able to adapt and persevere, so women could receive the sexual and reproductive health care they needed. This is the lifesaving work you make possible.
Women and girls will disproportionately bear the burden of rebuilding our post-coronavirus world, unless action is taken now. The Biden-Harris Administration’s renewal of support for UNFPA is a huge step forward. But realizing a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled will take action from us all.
To achieve this future, we have undertaken the ambitious goal of raising $100 million by 2030.
Your ongoing support of this work makes it possible to build a better world for every woman and girl, no matter what.
Amanda Seller
Chief Executive Officer
Friends of UNFPA
BE THERE FOR EVERY WOMAN AND GIRL,
NO MATTER WHAT
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Our Financials
Our Financials
Our Community
Letter from the CEO
Our work
Ending the Unmet Need for Family Planning
Ending maternal deaths
Ending Gender-Based Violence and Harmful Practices
Delivering Care in Humanitarian emergencies
Our goal is to end the unmet need of family planning by 2030. To do this, we:
Ending the Unmet Need for Family Planning
Meet Our CEO, Anu Surendran
Anu became the Chief Executive Officer of USA for UNFPA in December 2021. She joins us with more than 15 years of experience raising funds and building partnerships for UN agencies, including with UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, and UNICEF, the UN children’s agency. “I so look forward to working together with you towards our goal of delivering sexual and reproductive health care to every woman and girl, no matter what.”
- Anu Surendran,
Chief Executive Officer
Dear Friend,
In 2021, we met challenges to sexual and reproductive health and rights head on. Because of your support, we reached Fabiola, who gave birth in the immediate aftermath of one of the worst hurricanes to hit Honduras, with lifesaving care. We were there for Larise, who experienced sexual assault in a country with one of the world’s most dire humanitarian emergences, the Democratic Republic of Congo. And, because of you, we stood with Dania, a survivor of female genital mutilation in Iraq, as she spoke out against the practice in her community.
Throughout this report, you can read their stories and the stories of many other women and girls whose lives you transformed. In 2021, your support:
• Assisted in 1.5 million safe deliveries in crisis-affected countries.
• Distributed contraception that prevented 12.7 million unintended pregnancies and
39,000 maternal deaths.
• Delivered essential services to 2.3 million survivors of gender-based violence.
Now, in 2022, we continue to deliver transformational, lifesaving care. Without you, we would never be able to accomplish our goals of ending preventable maternal death, ending the unmet need for family planning, or ending violence against women and girls, including harmful practices. Thank you for your incredible generosity and bold commitment to being there for every woman and girl, no matter what.
Letter from the CEO
Wendy Cai-Lee
Richard Cain
Beth Comstock
Annette P. Cumming
Nicholas Groombridge
Vernon Mack
Peggy McEvoy, PhD
Leigh M. Miller, JD
The Honorable Phyllis E. Oakley
R. Lucia Riddle
Vito J. Spitaleri, JD
Bruce C. Tully
Emeritus Members
Jacob Onufrychuk, Chair of the Board and Chair of the Audit Committee
Mari Simonen, Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of the Nominating Committee
Monica Parekh, Treasurer
Connie J. Smith, Secretary and Chair of the Development and Communications Committee
Jennifer H. Wu,
Finance Committee Chair
Jyoti Agarwal
Peggy Elliott Goldwyn
Raoul Slavin
Board of Directors
- Monica Parekh,
USA for UNFPA Supporter and Board Member
Growing up, I saw first-hand how women and girls can be excluded and marginalized by their communities. I was heartbroken to hear that Nepali women and girls were still being exiled to menstruation huts outside the home. This practice exposes them to deadly freezing cold and violence. For me, supporting USA for UNFPA means I have an avenue to reach these survivors and give them a voice.”
“
None of this work would be possible without you–our incredible community of supporters. Thank you for being there for every woman and girl.
In 2021, our community had:
7,298
supporters,
who delivered lifesaving care to every woman and girl
435
Monthly Supporters,
whose commitment means women and girls have continuous access to sexual and reproductive health care, even in emergencies
15
Members
of our Legacy Society, whose gifts will secure the health and rights of future generations
Our Community
218 million women who want to avoid pregnancy are not using safe or effective family planning. Women are unable to access this care for many reasons, including a lack of information or services and a lack of support from their partners, families, and communities. Without family planning, women are more likely to experience unintended pregnancy which threatens their futures by putting their health at risk and preventing them from pursuing education and career opportunities.
Our work
Provide women and girls with the full range of family planning options, including short-term, long-term, and barrier options. This empowers women to choose the birth control that is best for their bodies, family plans, and futures.
Strengthen supply chains, so women and
girls always have access to family planning when they need it, including during emergencies.
Reach women and girls with comprehensive sexuality education, so they are knowledgeable about their rights and bodies.
We train, equip, and deploy midwives around the world, so women everywhere have the care they need during childbirth. We also provide emergency obstetric care, so if something does go wrong, women survive.
We reach women with skilled prenatal and postpartum care. This ensures women have the medicine and nutrition they need for healthy pregnancies, that they and their newborns recover well after birth, and that life-threatening issues are identified before it’s too late.
We provide women with access to family planning counseling, so they have the information and resources they need to prevent unintended pregnancy.
Our goal is to end preventable maternal deaths by 2030. To do this, we reach women with lifesaving care before, during, and after childbirth:
Every two minutes, a woman dies of preventable pregnancy or childbirth complications. Every day, this amounts to 808 needless deaths. And while these tragedies happen in every country and every community, the vast majority occur among women in low-income countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. Further, for every woman who loses her life to a pregnancy or childbirth complication, 20-30 women experience infections, injuries, or disabilities.
Ending Maternal DeathS
Our work
Support survivors of violence with medical care, legal aid, mental health counseling, and safe houses.
Advocate for governments to adopt policies that safeguard women’s health and rights and further gender equality.
Work with communities to raise awareness about women’s rights, including by engaging religious leaders, community elders, and men and boys.
Our goal is to end all violence against women and harmful practices by 2030. To do this we:
Globally, 1 in 3 women have experienced gender-based violence, including harmful practices like child marriage and female genital mutilation. Violence can take on many forms, including physical, emotional, sexual, and financial violence. And, violence can happen to any woman, regardless of her race, ethnicity, class, age, religion, or other identity. Victims of violence can suffer sexual and reproductive health consequences, including unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, traumatic fistula, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, and even death. And all too often violence is tolerated or carried out by the people a woman loves and trusts most: her partner or her family. Every 11 minutes,
a woman or girl is killed by a loved one.
Ending Gender-Based Violence and Harmful Practices
Our work
Click to explore
Ending the Unmet Need for Family Planning
Ending Maternal Deaths
Ending Gender-Based Violence and Harmful Practices
Delivering Care in Humanitarian emergencies
Ending the Unmet Need for Family Planning
Learn more
Learn more
Learn more
Learn more
Restoring Family Planning During the Pandemic
“Even though my husband and I already decided not to have more children, I became pregnant a third time,” Hira told UNFPA after her local clinic ran out of contraception injections. Like Hira, 12 million women lost access to family planning due to pandemic-related disruptions, 1.4 million of whom experienced unintended pregnancy. Unintended pregnancy can increase families’ financial strain, prevent women from reaching their education, career, or personal goals, and can lead to life-threatening complications or death. UNFPA worked throughout the pandemic to strengthen and restore contraceptive supply chains and family planning counseling, so women could choose motherhood on their terms.
Kathmandu, Nepal
Taking Control in an Uncertain Situation
Kawser and her husband, Mohammed, are two Rohingya refugees who recently married and had their first child. During her pregnancy, Kawser attended a program for young mothers. She received information on identifying pregnancy complications, navigating new motherhood, and shared decision-making in the family, and family planning. Kawser opted to use family planning after the birth of her son. She said, “We discussed finding a healthy solution to my well-being and my bodily autonomy together.” Mohammed added, “Both my wife and myself took the mutually agreed decision on a spacing of three years before having another child.”
Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
Family Planning for the Future
Kampala, Uganda
Margret opted to receive a contraceptive implant after her first child was born when she was just 16. A few years later, she had her implant removed and became a mother for the second time on her own terms. To make sure women like Margret have access to their preferred contraception when they want it, UNFPA has launched DrugDash. It is an app that health centers and patients can use to monitor available stocks of contraception. Already, DrugDash has helped health centers avoid stockouts and expired supplies and has led to an increased use of condoms. Margret said having access to family planning has helped her plan better for her children and provide for her family.
Educating Youth on their Rights and Bodies
Qinghai province, China
“I never talked about sex with my friends or my parents,” said 15-year-old Cairen. For many youth in China like Cairen, sexuality is a taboo topic, and so instead of receiving scientifically-backed, age-appropriate information, they turn to the internet or friends. This can perpetuate harmful myths about sexual and reproductive health, including family planning. UNFPA launched an online course in middle schools in China to reach youth with valuable comprehensive sexuality education. Now, Cairen and her peers have the information they need to make informed decisions about their bodies and futures, including about family planning.
Partnership Highlight
Why midwives? Because…
For over ten years, the Johnson & Johnson Foundation and the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies have been valued partners in our mission to end preventable maternal death. Part of reaching this goal is increasing the availability and quality of midwifery services. Through our work together, and since 2019 in collaboration with the Johnson & Johnson Center for Health Worker Innovation, we have made lifesaving midwifery services accessible for women across the globe.
4 million +
lives could be saved each year with a skilled, well-equipped midwifery workforce.
900,000
The number of additional midwives needed to meet the world’s need for essential sexual and reproductive health care. This shortage is most severe in low-income countries--where the majority of maternal deaths occur.
80%
of all stillbirths and maternal and newborn deaths could be prevented with adequate investment in midwives.
90%
of the need for essential sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, and adolescent health services could be met with midwives.
Our Work Together Includes
Raising the Bar for Midwifery on a Global Scale
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Raising the Bar for Midwifery
Safe Birth, Even Here
The Johnson & Johnson Center for Health Worker Innovation and UNFPA work together to create and distribute evidence-based midwifery education and assessments. This ensures that midwives everywhere have the knowledge and skills they need to provide quality care to women and girls, no matter what.
Haiti, Liberia, and Pakistan have been affected by multiple emergencies–from disease outbreaks, to natural disasters, to conflict. This has contributed to some of the highest rates of maternal and newborn death in the world. Johnson & Johnson Foundation has partnered with UNFPA to scale up midwifery services in these countries, so childbirth is safe, even here.
Hover on pins to see project
Over 45,000 women and girls have improved access to sexual and reproductive health care, including for surviviors of gender-based violence. In the program's target area, over 70 percent of births occur outside of healthcare facilities, a major contributing factor to maternal death.
In Liberia, 120 midwives were trained, expanding midwifery services to 143,000 women and girls. Further, the foundations were laid for emergency newborn services. This care has been virtually nonexistant since the outbreak of Ebola in the area.
Liberia
Pakistan
We expanded access to midwifery care by reaching more than 300 midwives with online training courses and by deploying a midwifery training mobile app for all midwives.
Hover on pins to see project
Our Financials
Financials Tab 01
Financials Tab 02
Financials Tab 01
2021 was the first year of our ambitious plan to deliver $100 million of lifesaving care to women and girls by 2030. To achieve this goal, we invested in our fundraising efforts and, already, the results are promising. 7,298 individuals gave a donation in 2021 of which 4,589 were new supporters. Support from these generous individuals grew 20 percent over 2020, topping $2 million for the first time in 2021. While our overall support was less in 2021 than in 2020, this was due to partnership grants we received to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to all of our supporters and partners for being there for every woman and girl, no matter what.
January 2021 - December 2021
72%
20%
8%
56%
39%
6%
Program Services and Grants
Fundraising
Fundraising
Haiti
Through this partnership, midwifery curriculum was improved at 20 schools throughout Mexico and more than 150 students were provided with scholarships to complete the programs. Paulina, one recipient, said, “I am truly grateful for this help that was given to me because otherwise I would not have been able to start a career due to my [family] situation.”
Over 650 nurses received education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including on topics like gender and cultural sensitivity. These nurses will improve access to lifesaving care in rural Colombia.
Through our partnership, more than 500 midwives received education on the intersection of midwifery and human rights. One midwife said that the course “increased [my] awareness in gender, race, social class and reproductive justice issues.”
Mexico
Colombia
Brazil
The Johnson & Johnson Center for Health Worker Innovation and UNFPA are working together to increase the number of professional midwives and to promote state-level recognition, hiring and sustainability of a midwifery model to improve maternal and reproductive care in Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, especially in rural areas and among Indigenous populations.
Program Services and Grants
Individual Contributions
In-Kind Contributions and Other Income
TAKE ACTION
Become a Monthly Supporter
Monthly supporters are among those most committed to realizing the health, rights, and dreams of women and girls everywhere, no matter what. By making a regular gift, monthly donors allow us to reach those most in need, decrease our administrative costs, and ensure that every woman and girl has continuous access to lifesaving sexual and reproductive health care. Monthly supporters also receive an exclusive update on the impact of their gift.
- Kathleen Miller Thomas,
Monthly Supporter of USA for UNFPA
Supporting and helping women, especially those in critical need, is important to me. So many people suffer in the world; those of us who are more fortunate can reach out a helping hand. I just wish I could give more.”
“
Become a Monthly Supporter
Make a Planned Gift
Make a Planned Gift
Join Us on Social Media
A planned gift today will advance the health, dignity, and rights of women and girls around the world for generations to come. Join our Legacy Society by including Friends of UNFPA in your estate plans.
Learn more:
friendsofunfpa.org/planned-giving/
Your support has an incredible impact on the lives of women and girls. Follow us on social media to hear from the women and girls whose lives you’ve touched, to keep up with our work and experts in the field, and to learn about events or other upcoming opportunities. You can also share the importance of sexual and reproductive health care with your friends and family.
@usaforunfpa
- Steve Rosenberg, 77,
Member of USA for UNFPA’s Legacy Society
If your car breaks down, you go to a mechanic. If I’m concerned about women’s reproductive rights, then I’m going to support the experts. I get to have a worldwide impact.”
“
Join Us on Social Media
Create your plans today:
freewill.com/friendsofunfpa
Stay In-The-Know and Engage Your Community
Stay in-the-know on our latest sexual and reproductive health initiatives with our monthly newsletter.
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Want to do even more? You can host your own fundraiser benefiting women and girls through Facebook or by visiting:
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Other Ways to Give
Your contribution to this lifesaving work ensures that women and girls have the care they need, no matter what. There are many ways to give, including:
Memorial and Matching Gifts
In Honor of a Loved One:
Celebrate a birthday or anniversary, honor a parent on Mother’s or Father’s Day, or memorialize a loved one by making a gift in their honor. Select “Give in honor or in memory” at checkout.
By Phone or Mail
Stocks and Securities and Donor-Advised Funds
Gifts of Stocks and Securities:
By transferring ownership of long-term holdings to USA for UNFPA, you will receive a charitable deduction for their full market value and incur no capital gains tax (subject to IRS Deduction limits).
Please use the following information to transfer stock to USA for UNFPA:
Name: USA for UNFPA, Inc. | Account Number: 39G-02035
DTC Number: 8862 | Tax ID Number: 13-3996346
Please let us know that you will be making a stock donation by contacting Jennifer Munz, Director of Development at (646) 649-9100 or at jmunz@usaforunfpa.org. As donor information is not always included with electronic transfers, we want to make sure we have a mailing address to send your tax receipt as soon as possible.
Through a Donor-Advised Fund:
If you use a Donor-Advised Fund for your philanthropic activities, you can use your DAF to support USA of UNFPA and also donate towards a specific area of UNFPA’s work. For more information, please call our Director of Development,
Jennifer Munz, at (646) 649-9100 or jmunz@usaforunfpa.org
If you already use the Fidelity Charitable Donor-Advised Fund, you can make a contribution directly through their online portal.
Donate Today
By supporting women and girls, raising our voice,
and inspiring others to join this community, we are building this world.
We are there for every woman and girl, no matter what.
And a world where women and girls live free from violence and harmful practices.
We want a world where women become pregnant only when they want to.
A world where giving birth is safe for every mother and child.
OUR VISION
Overview
Statement of Activities
Overview
Program Services and Grants
In-Kind Contributions and Other Income
Grants
Fundraising
Management and General
Individual Contributions
75%
15%
10%
56%
39%
6%
2021 was the first year of our ambitious plan to raise $100 million by 2030 to continue delivering lifesaving care to women and girls. To achieve this goal, we invested in our fundraising efforts and, already, the results are promising. 7,298 individuals gave a donation in 2021 of which 4,589 were new supporters. Support from these generous individuals grew 20 percent over 2020, topping $2 million for the first time in 2021. While our overall support was less in 2021 than in 2020, this was due to partnership grants we received to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to all of our supporters and partners for being there for every woman and girl, no matter what.
January-December 2021
Manage safe spaces, so survivors of violence can access the mental health care and community support they need.
Operate mobile health clinics to reach women and girls living in refugee camps or who are migrating to safer areas.
Distribute dignity and emergency birth kits, so women and girls can manage their periods and safely give birth, even in a crisis.
Our goal is to ensure women and girls have continuous access to lifesaving sexual and reproductive health care, no matter what. To achieve this we:
In 2021, 235 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. Women and girls are among the most vulnerable in emergencies as crises exacerbate gender inequalities and heighten the risk of violence. Further, periods, pregnancies, and babies do not wait for crises to pass. We deliver lifesaving care so women and girls can manage their periods, have healthy pregnancies, and deliver their babies safely even in the darkest of times. This support is critical, as more than half of maternal death occur in humanitarian and fragile settings.
Delivering Care in Humanitarian emergencies
Our work
Tegucigalp, Honduras
Bridging the care gap for pregnant women affected by hurricanes
Fabiola, and millions of Hondurans like her, lost almost everything when back-to-back hurricanes destroyed her home. But, she didn’t lose access to lifesaving reproductive health care. At 9-months pregnant, Fabiola was nervous to give birth under the bridge where she and her family had found shelter. Luckily, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy with the help of a neighborhood midwife. A UNFPA doctor visited her tent to provide newborn care and to give Fabiola information about a UNFPA clinic where she could access postpartum care and other reproductive health services. Even in emergencies, UNFPA is there, ensuring pregnant women, new mothers, and newborns have the care they need to be safe and healthy.
Moving mountains to provide care
Elías Piña, Dominican Republic
In Lucia’s region of the Dominican Republic, pregnant women used to have to walk through the mountains to reach the nearest clinic for prenatal care. At 19, Lucia had experienced this with her first two pregnancies, but now, during her third, she has a new way to get the care she needs: motorcycle ambulances. A UNFPA program supplied these ambulances, as well as trained health care workers, equipped 10 primary care centers, increased access to family planning, and provided new mothers like Lucia with food packages and mama kits. Mama kits contain items like diapers, blankets, and face masks, so new mothers have the supplies they need to take care of themselves and their babies after birth. Lucia made it to her last prenatal appointment with ease and left knowing she and the baby were doing well.
New life after an emergency
Buba, Guinea-Bissau
Ami had just moved with her husband and four children to a new area of Guinea-Bissau for farming when, seven months into her pregnancy, she began bleeding heavily. Ami needed help–and fast. She was experiencing a detached placenta, which can lead
to miscarriage or stillbirth. She was transported to a regional hospital over an hour away, where, thanks to a recent UNFPA initiative to train and deploy health care workers, a doctor was ready to perform a Cesarean section. Ami’s daughter, Zita, weighed just under three pounds at birth and wasn’t expected to survive. But, because of skilled, timely care, both Ami and her daughter were healthy enough to return home two weeks later.
Katoba, Zambia
Bringing Midwifery to Zambia
In 2021, we hosted a screening of the film With Grace, which is directed by National Geographic Explorer Austin Meyer. With Grace offers an intimate look at the state of maternal health in rural Zambia. For 34 year-old Grace, her fifth pregnancy will be her first delivery in a clinic. The risk of injury or death from childbirth complications rises dramatically when women give birth at home.
Ending Maternal Deaths
Thank you to our Board of Directors for their dedication and guidance in delivering lifesaving sexual and reproductive health care to every woman and girl.
$1,109,274
Individual Contributions
Support and Revenue
Grants
Individual Contributions
In-Kind Contributions
Other income
Total Support & Revenue
Statement of Activities*
$1,447,000
$1,711,412
$2,049,949
2018
2019
2021
2020
- Anu Surendran,
Chief Executive Officer USA for UNFPA
Through this work, this community, and your support, I am confident that we can realize a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.”
“
2021
1,419,482
2,049,949
131,238
69,454
3,670,122
2020
3,170,626 1,711,412
95,041
6,687
4,983,766
Expenses & Grants
Program Services & Grants
Management & Genera
Fundraising
Total Expenses & Grants
2,906,417 307,488 589,278
3,866,183
3,694,846 308,143 554,243
4,557,232
Change in Net Assets
Net assets - Beginning of year
Net assets - End of year
(196,061)
1,436,579
1,240,518
426,534
1,010,045
1,436,579
“I am capable of everything.”
Mocuba, Zambezia Province, Mozambique
Beatriz had suffered in silence for years. At 15, she became pregnant. Her delivery lasted three painful days, only to result in stillbirth. Beatriz developed an obstetric fistula, a debilitating childbirth injury that leaves a hole in the birth canal and leads to the leaking of urine of feces. Fistula often occurs among women and girls like Beatriz–those whose bodies are not physically mature enough for childbearing, who live in poor areas a long way from health centers, and who have limited decision-making power over their health and bodies. Beatriz endured a second stillbirth and six years of near total social isolation before she finally received care for her fistula from UNFPA. UNFPA has performed thousands of fistula repair surgeries for women like Beatriz. Now, Beatriz has her life back and said, “Now, I am capable of everything.”
Climate Change Exposes Women and Girls to Violence on Multiple Levels
Somalia is facing a severe drought, leaving crops, livestock, and women’s and girls’ safety to wither away in the heat. Women and girls are the primary water collectors in Somalia and regularly walk miles every day to provide for their families. With the drought, they have had to travel farther and farther to find water and some families have decided to move to displacement camps to survive. This movement exposes women and girls to violence, including rape, child marriage, and transactional sex. Girls whose communities have been impacted by drought or other climate disasters are also more vulnerable to child marriage, as families may feel that marrying off their daughter is a better option than being unable to provide for her. And, in the camps, some women and girls engage in transactional sex to procure necessary items like food or menstruation products. UNFPA provides dignity kits, which contain basic hygiene essentials like soap, a toothbrush, underwear, and menstrual products, to girls like Hodan, whose family is currently living in a displacement camp in Somalia. She explained, “The items provide me with freedom and time.”
The Last Generation of Female Genital Mutilation
Sulaymaniyah,
Kurdistan Region of Iraq
“Come with me, we need to go to the bakery, my mother told me one morning. That day, I experienced fear, deception and excruciating pain. I was only seven,” said Dania, remembering the day she underwent female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM is a deeply rooted cultural practice and an extreme human rights violation. Girls who experience FGM have life-long physical and psychological trauma which can include painful menstruation, recurring infections, infertility, PTSD, or even death. UNFPA has been at the forefront of ending FGM by working with advocates like Dania to raise awareness of its harms. In Dania’s generation, close to half of Kurdish women had undergone FGM, but among their daughters, this number dropped to just over 10 percent.
Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Survivors of Sexual Violence Call for Change
“I turned around and, in the dim light, I saw men and boys coming towards us. They grabbed us and they were jeering when they distributed us among them, including the children. Five men took turns raping me and violating my body… I was in the hospital for five months. The men broke my body into many pieces and shattered my soul,” said Larise, remembering the darkest night of her life. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, women and girls’ lives are left hanging in the balance in one of the world’s largest and most complex humanitarian emergencies. UNFPA reaches survivors of sexual violence like Larise with services for the clinical treatment of rape and mental health counseling. We also encourage women and girls to express their needs. Larise and other survivors shared their ideas to combat sexual violence, including: distributing and monitoring food more efficiently; involving women, girls, and people living with disabilities in distribution committees; providing access to micro-credits for small-scale businesses, and consulting with women on the construction and securing of water points to reduce their exposure to attack. By securing women and girls’ basic needs and ensuring they can safely access these resources, we can limit their exposure to violence.
South-West State, Somalia
Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania
Faith Leaders Against Child Marriage
Child marriage is a pervasive practice that has dangerous consequences for girls. Child brides often leave behind their education, friends, family, and dreams when they get married. They are also more likely to experience young motherhood and violence from their partner. About 1 in 5 girls becomes a child bride in Zanzibar, which is why UNFPA works with faith leaders like Sheikh Vuai to raise awareness about the harms of child marriage. Sheikh Vaui explained, “Our main focus is on the health risks, which include maternal and child death, and the negative impacts on girls who cannot realize their dreams. If the marriage fails, without an education a girl really has no future.”
Ending Gender-Based Violence and Harmful Practices
“If they hadn’t been here that night, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Tigray, Ethiopia
“If they hadn’t been here that night, I wouldn’t be here today,” said Selam. She was the first woman to give birth in a newly constructed refugee camp in northern Ethiopia, which has been embroiled in conflict for a year. Before the camp was erected, Selam and her family had been living in a schoolhouse. Food, water, and fuel have become scarce in the region. Selam explained, “I went into labor in the middle of the night. I was scared. We came to the clinic and they tried to refer me to a hospital, but there was no ambulance or any other vehicle available. I was so afraid to lose my child.” Luckily, the clinic had a UNFPA reproductive health kit, which a nurse used to save the lives of Selam and her newborn daughter.
Crater, Yemen
On the Doorstep of Death
A gunfight had just broken out outside of midwife Shrook’s hospital when she heard a woman screaming for help. “Bullets were coming from all the corners of the street,” Shrook remembers. “When I arrived at the gate, I found the pregnant woman lying down and crying for help. I pulled her and rushed her inside a car... That is where all of it happened. In a few minutes, she had delivered a healthy baby boy.” Stories like this are all too common in Yemen, where ongoing conflict has devastated the country’s health care system. UNFPA supports women and girls by training and equipping midwives to provide essential sexual and reproductive health care and by operating health centers and safe spaces, even in the heart of conflict.
Surviving Life as a Refugee
Damascus, Syria
10 years of war have dramatically changed the lives of Syrian women and girls. Mariam, a 16-year-old girl, explained how her life “quickly became an open-air prison after the war. Suddenly, we were told not to leave our houses because we might get harassed, raped or kidnapped. I’m told that being married is my only path to true safety, but I don’t want to get married. I’m simply not ready.” Across Syria and neighboring countries, UNFPA operates 112 women and girls’ safe spaces, 17 youth centers, 33 emergency care facilities, 133 primary care centers, and 125 mobile clinics. These facilities support the health, safety, and rights of women and girls like Mariam, no matter what.
A Safe Haven
Bogota, Colombia
More than 5 million people have left Venezuela for safety elsewhere and many have ended up in neighboring Colombia. UNFPA operates 19 safe spaces across the country for Venezuelan migrants like Griseida and Marlyng. Both women left their homes when they were no longer able to support their children. At the safe spaces, migrants can access support for gender-based violence, which tends to increase when women and girls are on the move. Now that she is back on her feet, Marlyng hosts migrants in her home and refers survivors of violence to the safe space for support. She said, “I have always been a helpful person... To be able to support them, tell them they are not alone moves my heart greatly.”
L’Asile, Nippes Department, Haiti
An Earth-Shattering Moment
The people of Haiti survived blow after blow in 2021, including the assasination of their president, a major earthquake, gang violence, and a devastating fuel shortage. Desir, one Haitian woman, knows this far too well. Her local hospital was destroyed in the earthquake and when it came time for her to give birth, she did so in a tent surrounded by rubble. In the first two months following the earthquake, UNFPA supported some 1,540 safe births like Desir’s. We spoke with UNFPA Haiti Country Representative Yves Sassenrath about UNFPA’s work on the ground. You can hear more from Sassenrath here.
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