Watch testimonials of midwives from developing countries talking about the challenges they face in their daily life-saving work.

In a world of 7 billion, educating and empowering women and girls helps reduce poverty and illiteracy, stabilizes populations, and enables societies to make better choices.

The Birth of South Sudan

A new report, "Ageing in the 21st Century," offers a vision to unlock the potential of ageing populations.

Watch testimonials of midwives from developing countries talking about the challenges they face in their daily life-saving work.

An excerpt from Article 1, read on 9 July 2011 with photos courtesy of Barbara Davidson/LA Times.  Many challenges lie ahead in South Sudan. One of the poorest countries in the world, its maternal mortality rate is the highest on the planet. UNFPA is helping to train midwives across the country to ensure safe births.

Watch testimonials of midwives from developing countries talking about the challenges they face in their daily life-saving work.

This story features women who share a determination to not be victims of violence forever.

UNFPA puts every effort into breaking the silence and ensuring that the voices of women are heard. One strategy is to engage men - policy makers, parents and young boys in discourse about the dynamics and consequences of violence.

In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, it is believed that as many as one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused in some way - most often by someone she knows, including her husband or another male family member.