As droughts, floods and conflict threaten women’s health in Somalia, ĢƵFPA is strengthening climate-resilient healthcare facilities and delivering essential maternal and protection services.
ĢƵFPA
ĢƵFPA surveyed over 100,000 young people around the world to learn what they want. Shudu Musida, ĢƵFPA Global Champion for Women and Girls tells us what they said, and how people reacted to the results.
Married at 16, Fatou Bah was determined her daughters would have a different future. Today, she helps protect other girls from child marriage in The Gambia. Through United Nations Population Fund-supported initiatives, mothers’ clubs, religious leaders and community advocates are challenging harmful traditions, keeping girls in school and defending their right to choose their future. With thousands of girls still at risk, their message is clear: “Marriage should never be the reason her childhood ends.”
Escalating conflict in Yemen has displaced over 145,000 people, leaving thousands of pregnant women without safe childbirth, reproductive healthcare, shelter, or protection.
In a crowded shelter in Nepal, 20-year-old Ram Maya replays her mother’s last voice message, asking if she was safe. The floods took her mother and sister-in-law; now she finds strength in cooking for displaced families and caring for children who lost their parents. Other women fled carrying babies, watched their homes vanish and faced life without clean clothes or privacy. ĢƵ Population Fund (ĢƵFPA) is providing hygiene supplies, healthcare and counselling to help survivors regain comfort and dignity. For women grieving loved ones and caring for their families, surviving the flood is only the beginning.
In Querétaro, Mexico, 18 women are turning generations-old crafts into new opportunities through a partnership between ĢƵFPA and Prada Group. Artisans including Lupita, Leticia and Manuela combined traditional weaving, embroidery and doll-making with training in fashion, business, women’s rights and sexual and reproductive health. Their work culminated in a 21-garment collection showcased in Mexico City. Along the way, the women gained confidence, strengthened networks of mutual support and developed ambitions to build their own brands and workshops while keeping their cultural heritage alive.
Young people in the Maldives are struggling with rising living costs, limited housing and insecure employment, making it harder to pursue careers, independence and family life. ĢƵFPA is calling for more family-friendly workplaces and better opportunities.
Young adults around the world continue to value partnership and parenthood, but financial insecurity, housing challenges, and unstable employment often prevent them from achieving these aspirations.
Drawing on , the report calls for investments in education, jobs, housing, reproductive health, and social protection to help people build the families and futures they want.
In Burkina Faso, women in the Sabari Kadi cooperative are strengthening their livelihoods by producing soumbala, a traditional fermented seasoning made from African locust beans. Through ĢƵFPA-supported training, they have improved harvesting practices, adopted natural pest control, strengthened hygiene standards and gained skills in financial management and online marketing. These changes have enhanced the quality of their products, expanded market opportunities and increased incomes, while promoting sustainable use of forest resources. By combining environmental stewardship with entrepreneurship, the training is creating new opportunities for women and building resilience against climate-related challenges.
Even during Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, dedicated midwives like Francine continue providing life-saving care to mothers and newborns despite the risks.
From Cuba to the World Cup, women are increasingly making their mark as referees.
Watch Hasset Dereje unpack a kit with students who are seeing some of these items for the very first time. Hasset knows that for a girl in rural Ethiopia, lacking menstrual hygiene products can impact their education. That’s why a $15 dignity kit is so much more than a box of supplies. It’s a toolkit for her future. For just $15, you can help a girl stay in school. .
Despite being displaced herself by the war in Sudan, medical doctor Manasik dedicates herself to ensuring that women and girls who survived gender-based violence can find support.
In the Central African Republic conflict, poverty and shrinking humanitarian funding are pushing health systems to the brink. At the Bangui Paediatric Complex, Central African Republic's only specialist neonatal and paediatric hospital, families face rising costs for care after free health services sustained by international partners, including ĢƵFPA, were scaled back. Belicia, who had triplets is receiving quality care in the maternity ward. However, only around 40 per cent of births in the country are attended by skilled personnel and many women struggle to access essential reproductive and neonatal healthcare.
ĢƵFPA Logistics Officer, Mahmoud: “When I deliver aid in Gaza, I move through destroyed streets and constant danger, trying to reach people who urgently need help while still carrying my own loss with me.”