Post-childbirth complications such as obstetric fistula have agonized women in Senegal, yet UNFPA and partners are aiding women to reclaim their dignity and rebuild their lives.

The incubators at Al-Helal Al-Emirati Hospital in Gaza are filled with babies who have lost their parents. Learn about this tragic situation from two doctors at the hospital and see how UNFPA is taking action.

Some 1.5 million people – including tens of thousands of pregnant women, new mothers and newborns – are now crammed into Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost town, in a desperate search for safety amid war. Tightly packed with nowhere to go, they find the prospect of further military operations in Rafah terrifying. With bombs falling and just a trickle of aid, a public health disaster is worsening. Everyone in Gaza is hungry, including 50,000 pregnant women. UNFPA and partners are providing support in this devastating crisis, but it’s not enough, as they do not have the access required to support all women in need.

The only hospital in Yemen's Bani Saad district serves around 20,000 people who have to travel on foot or by camel for hours to reach it. Pregnant women take this journey to access skilled birth attendants, but home births are also risky due to a lack of qualified help. Yemen's healthcare system is devastated by nine years of civil war, leaving fewer than half of the country's hospitals functional, and only one in five can provide maternal and newborn services. The United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) appeal for funding to sustain programs for women and girls in 2023 was only 57% funded by the end of the year, which has severe consequences for women and girls in Yemen. With a fully funded appeal, UNFPA would be able to support more health facilities, improve the health outcomes for women and girls, and reduce preventable deaths.

More than 200 million girls and women today are survivors of female genital mutilation, a procedure that involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for no medical reason. Female genital mutilation was outlawed in Kenya in 2011. While it's vital that the practice is banned, women- and survivor-led movements like Women Rising are key to driving real change. This community initiative includes a forum for mothers who have endured the practice and their daughters who will be spared.

Aspy Kamsing, eagerly anticipates graduation as she looks forward to pursuing her passion for midwifery, amid a rising demand for trained midwives in Laos underscored by UNFPA's acknowledgment of a shortage of nearly 1 million midwives globally.

The Ardamata clinic supported by UNFPA, reopens in Sudan, providing critical support for some 300,000 people, both those displaced within Sudan and from host communities.

Dr. Zuria Alberto is the leader of a mobile health team that operates in Cabo Delgado, the northernmost province of Mozambique. In this region, there are approximately 850,000 people who are displaced and living in difficult conditions due to climate crises and poverty. The mobile health workers travel by land or sea to reach women and girls living in rural and island areas of the province who may not have access to healthcare otherwise. The mobile team, supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), provides a comprehensive range of sexual and reproductive health services. This helps to reduce the risk of unwanted pregnancies, maternal mortality, and gender-based violence.

From the newly created UNRWA field hospital in Gaza, UNFPA is committed to providing them with much-needed support and supplies.

In the year 2023, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) encountered a range of crises, including natural disasters, climate change, and man-made disasters. Despite these challenges, women and girls affected by those situations achieved significant milestones. They released fashion collections, asserted their economic and bodily autonomy, and found innovative ways to help girls complete their education. Additionally, the health agency provided safe delivery of babies on land and sea and delivered aid to women in crisis. UNFPA is urging donors to support women and girls in humanitarian responses. Investing in them means investing in a better future.

The cycle of despair in 2023 seemed unstoppable yet crisis after crisis, there were accounts of the selfless and the heroic. Here are 8 stories of resilience and hope from 2023.

What would the world look like if it was designed by and for women? Equity 2030 seeks to redesign the world with women in mind.

During extreme weather events, women face heightened vulnerabilities among them, increased gender-based violence. As we mark COP28, here are 5 things women and girls are demanding.

Dr. Hijazi narrates about the horrific situation for pregnant women in Gaza, where 180 births a day are taking place amid relentless bombardment.

Filmmaker Bisan Ouda shows you inside the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza and hear from health workers in dire need of life-saving medicines and supplies.