Obstetric fistula is a severe morbidity caused when a woman or girl suffers from prolonged obstructed labour without timely access to emergency obstetric care, notably a Caesarean section. The sustained pressure of the baby’s head on the mother’s pelvic bone damages her soft tissues, creating a hole – or fistula – between the vagina and the bladder and/or rectum. In most cases, the baby is stillborn or dies soon after birth, and the woman suffers a devastating injury – a fistula - that renders her incontinent. 
 
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Gender equality guaranteed in Tunisia's new constitution

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Members of the National Constituent Assembly attend a meeting about reproductive health and rights, organized by UNFPA, in May 2014. Photo credit: UNFPA/Delphine Lavaissiere
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News

Combating Tanzania's high child marriage rates

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Students and teachers at the Jangwani Girls' Secondary School, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, listen to a presentation about girls' rights during the launch of a national campaign to end child marriage. Photo credit: RCO/Selemani Kitenge
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The Midwifery Programme Guidance has been developed by UNFPA in collaboration with ICM for country offices, programme managers,  partner agencies, and midwifery managers in Ministries of Health, to assist them in developing, ‘scaling up’ and/or strengthening midwifery programmes at the national level. It explains key midwifery concepts, outlines a step by step approach on how to strengthen midwifery Education, Regulation and Association, engage stakeholders, undertake effective policy advocacy and fund raising and references key available resources to do so.

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