News

Scaling Up the Humanitarian Response for Syrian Refugees

24 June 2012
Syrian refugees receiving supplies in Northern Lebanon. Photo: UNHCR/F. Juez
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News

UN calls for intensified efforts to end fistula

23 December 2014
Fistula survivors who have recently received treatment now participate in a livelihood programme in National Center for Fistula Treatment, N'Djamena, Chad. The programme aims to successfully reintegrate survivors into their communities. © UNFPA/Ollivier Girard
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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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This report reviews the first meeting of international fistula experts in London in July 2001, which launched this initiative and focused on concrete actions to alleviate the suffering of affected women. It is our sincerest hope that together we can work to make fistula as rare in Africa and in all developing countries as it is in the industrialized world. We know that new partners will join us in this worthwhile initiative.

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Video

Freedom From Fistula

March 16, 2011

An overview of the Campaign to End Fistula workings in Liberia, showing striking scenes of women & girls in their quest for treatment & a new life, free of obstetric fistula, a devastating child-bearing injury that affects more than 2 million women. Created by UNFPA Liberia and Governess Films, 2010

Video

Mobile technology and obstetric fistula

May 23, 2014

A project in Tanzania is using cell phones to help women with fistula. "Mobile technology will be a game-changer in terms of health," says UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin.  

Video

Voices of Midwives: Kenya

April 30, 2014
State of the World's Midwifery Report 2014
Anthony Kiplagat, Kenya
English