Hager Zakaaraya is more than a midwife. For years she has opened her doors to women in her community as an advocate, mentor and friend. She has been working as a midwife since 1997, first at clinics and hospitals in Gedaref state in eastern Sudan and now from her home, which she has converted into a clinic, in the northeastern city of Hai Sawakin. Women line up to see her, thanks to her reputation for skilled care and camaraderie. , the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, supports her work, providing medicines and supplies, such as fetal heart monitors, that are essential to saving the lives of women and their newborns. Hager’s home has always been busy, filled with her own children as well as with women and their children who need her help at any given time, such as those displaced by conflict. The kids play together while the women cook, chat and build friendships and support systems through the most challenging of times.
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Amid , , and , Gaza’s pregnant women fight for life, safety, and the fragile hope of a peaceful birth.
As hospitals lie in ruins and hunger spreads in Gaza, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵFPA’s mobile clinic offers critical maternal care to women giving birth in unimaginable conditions.
Amid Sudan’s war, this remarkable midwife, Hager, provides critical care and emotional support, holding her community together through crisis.
Should women have more children? Let's explore with Shudufhadzo Musida, .
In rural southern Hebron, a Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵFPA-supported mobile safe space brings to isolated women who face severe barriers to care, and safety amidst the
Misinformation about contraception poses serious risks. Just ask Evaline Chepkemol from rural Kenya, where maternal death rates are high. Many women fear contraceptives, believing they lead to loss of children or infertility. Evaline, however, received accurate information from a -supported hospital, allowing her to space her pregnancies safely. Unfortunately, global funding shortages threaten contraceptive availability, potentially resulting in unintended pregnancies and maternal deaths. The spread of myths, such as the idea that contraceptives can induce miscarriage, contributes to this issue, despite being .
Imagine a hunger that never ends, one that threatens your very life. In Gaza, daily violence and collapsing hospitals put , United Nations Population Fund (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵFPA) delivers essential medical care, emergency obstetric services, and psychosocial support.
helps ensure that even amidst war and devastation, mothers receive the care they desperately need and their babies have a chance to survive and thrive.
We hit the streets of to ask young people a simple question: Do you want to have kids? Hear what they have to say and join @Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵFPA—the @UnitedNations sexual and reproductive health agency—to support their freedom to choose their own lives.
When war erupted in Sudan in April 2023, it tore a deadly path through the capital, Khartoum. In the years since, fighters have brutally targeted civilians across the country, resulting in the world’s largest with forced from their homes. Today, as families begin to return to Khartoum, the scars of conflict remain painfully visible, especially in the shattered health system. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, is part of the effort to restore what has been lost.
. Tiny cries, big hope: incubators are giving Somalia’s newborns a fighting chance. Imagine holding your breath, waiting for your newborn’s first cry, and hearing only silence... That was Faduma’s reality in Mogadishu, until a simple incubator gave her baby the breath of life. In from Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵFPA, discover how a handful of life-saving machines —incubators, oxygen units, and surgical gear — are transforming hospitals once teetering on the edge of despair. Meet the unstoppable health workers defying the odds, mothers who turn fear into joy, and the miracle of modern care in places where even electricity isn’t a guarantee. It’s a story of survival, love, and why funding matters — because every breath counts.
In conflicts across the globe, sexual violence – including rape, abuse, coercion and trafficking – is increasingly being wielded as a weapon to terrorize women and girls, often leading to devastating physical and psychological trauma. At least 20,000 women and men were raped or abused during the 1992-1995 conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Jasna (name changed) is one of these survivors. She has gained stability and healing through Snaga Žene, an NGO offering psychological, legal, social, and economic support, including access to a greenhouse to cultivate and sell vegetables.
See how midwives like Nadiifo step up to provide life-saving support where over 3 million people in Somalia are displaced and many pregnant women have limited or no access to healthcare.
Amid Gaza’s escalating conflict, repeated displacement, blockades, and resource shortages severely limit safe spaces and support services for women survivors of violence and abuse.
This World Population Day, stand with to ensure every woman and girl has the freedom to speak, choose, and control her own body.