UN Warns Pregnant Women’s Health at Risk in Afghanistan

By Fidel Rahmati
April 7, 2026

Pregnant women in Afghanistan must have uninterrupted access to health services, the U.N. Population Fund said on Monday, warning that maternal care is a life-saving necessity in a country with one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates. The agency’s message came as concerns mounted over new restrictions affecting women’s access to reproductive and maternity care.

UNFPA said access to maternal health care is “non-negotiable,” stressing that Afghanistan remains one of the most dangerous places in the world to be pregnant. According to UNFPA’s Afghanistan profile, the country records about 620 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, and a woman dies from preventable pregnancy-related complications roughly every two hours.

Continued: https://www.khaama.com/un-warns-pregnant-womens-health-at-risk-in-afghanistan/

07.04.2026

Q&A: What next for humanitarians and the global gag rule?

“There’s an earthquake. There’s somebody who’s been raped. You need to help the people, not check their credentials on the global gag.”

2 February 2026
Irwin Loy

Chaos, confusion, and more ethical dilemmas: Humanitarians are still trying to understand the impacts of a sweeping expansion to the so-called “global gag rule” on US funding.

The Trump administration expanded the on-again, off-again anti-abortion care directive known as the Mexico City policy to include nearly all foreign assistance, including humanitarian funding sent through UN agencies and international and local aid groups. The rules – announced on 23 January and published last week – also slap vague bans on programmes related to diversity and equity, and gender identity.

Continued: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/interview/2026/02/02/qa-what-next-humanitarians-and-global-gag-rule

02.02.2026

Interviews/Podcasts

Beth Schlachter

diversity equity and inclusion

MSI Reproductive Choices

Uganda – Our Constitution Leaves Girls Unprotected, The Results Are Fatal

Thursday, December 11, 2025
By Moses Paul Odongo

Recently, while perusing the Daily Monitor of November 18, 2025, I came across an article on page 25 written by Olivier Mukaaya, titled “Abortion crisis as girls turn to unsafe practices.”

As I read it carefully, word for word, I found myself tearing up as I reflected on what the 19-year-old girl in the story went through. She had already endured the trauma of sexual assault. When she later discovered she was pregnant, fear, shame and the weight of that experience overwhelmed her.

Continued: https://nilepost.co.ug/opinions/309754/our-constitution-leaves-girls-unprotected-the-results-are-fatal

11.12.2025

Opinion

Moses Paul Odongo

UNFPA

World Health Organization

AD1087: Ghanaians support women’s autonomy but are divided on abortion and contraceptives

Most citizens back sex education and letting pregnant girls stay in school.

Maame Akua Amoah Twum
2 Dec 2025

Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) remain a critical challenge in Ghana, particularly with regard to teenage pregnancy and access to contraception. Between 2016 and 2020, Ghana recorded 13,444 pregnancies among girls aged 10-14 and 542,131 pregnancies among adolescents aged 15-19 (UNFPA-Ghana, 2022). Teenage pregnancy rates are about twice as high in rural areas as in cities (Mohammed, 2023). Poverty, limited education, and stigma surrounding SRHR continue to restrict access to essential services (Amoadu et al., 2022).

One profound consequence of teenage pregnancy is educational disruption. A study in a suburb of Accra (Chorkor) showed that more than 80% of pregnant schoolgirls drop out permanently (Gyan, 2013), and participants in re-entry programmes often face stigma, a lack of support, and economic hardship.

Continued: https://www.afrobarometer.org/publication/ad1087-ghanaians-support-womens-autonomy-but-are-divided-on-abortion-and-contraceptives/

02.12.2025

Research

public support for abortion

sexual and reproductive health and rights

Mobile Clinics Close in Madagascar as Aid Cuts Reduce Reproductive Health Services

Cuts to mobile clinic funding are leading to more unwanted pregnancies and unsafe births.

By Sarah El Gharib
October 30, 2025

When her mobile clinic shut down, Herisoa Bodo’s phone wouldn’t stop ringing. A client due for implant removal reached out again and again. The appointment never happened — and she became pregnant.

Bodo, a midwife with Marie Stopes International (MSI) Madagascar since 2012, kept fielding calls long after outreach teams had been forced to suspend services. “Women kept calling because they couldn’t find care,” she said. Her routes cover Analamanga, the region surrounding the capital Antananarivo, where MSI deploys buses converted into clinics and 4x4 teams into rural communities. For many women, those visits are the only reliable chance to see a midwife.

Continued: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/madagascar-mobile-clinics-close-due-to-aid-cuts/

Contraceptives are essential and life-saving – and they are under threat globally

30 October 2025
Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Ms. Diene Keita

Contraceptives save lives. For almost 50 years, global health authorities have recognized contraception as essential medicine. People want them, use them, and rely on them every day.

The evidence is abundantly clear: When women and adolescent girls have access to contraceptives, their pregnancies are more likely to be planned and safe, they are more likely to complete school, be employed and fulfil their potential, their children are healthier, and their societies are more prosperous. The truth is that contraceptives reduce abortion rates and lower the incidence of death and disability related to complications of pregnancy and childbirth.

Continued; https://www.unfpa.org/press/contraceptives-are-essential-and-life-saving-%E2%80%93-and-they-are-under-threat-globally

30.10.2025

News

contraception is essential medicine

The Ripple Effects of the U.S. Retreat from International Reproductive Care

U.S. cuts to global health funding are putting reproductive rights, healthcare access and human rights at risk worldwide. Human rights experts discuss exactly what’s happening—and what would stop the suffering.

10/19/2025
by Jaime M. Gher, Payal Shah and Floriane Borel

The U.S. has long been the largest donor to global health programs, but under the Trump administration, that support is rapidly disappearing. The resulting funding cuts are devastating reproductive health access, disease prevention efforts and human rights around the world.

In this Q&A, global health and human rights experts Jaime M. Gher, Payal Shah and Floriane Borel break down the global ripple effects—and the urgent need for action.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2025/10/19/usa-trump-international-global-health-aid-cuts/

Explainer: No, contraceptives don’t cause abortions

11 August 2025

UNITED NATIONS, New York/NAROK COUNTY, Kenya – Misinformation about contraception is deadly.

Just ask Evaline Chepkemol, a mother of three in Kenya’s rural Narok County – a place with one of the country’s highest maternal death rates. Ms. Chepkemol has encountered many women in her community who are fearful of contraceptives.

“They have the belief that if you insert the family planning [device], you either lose the children or will never give birth again,” she told UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. “They were saying that when you put in family planning, you will never give birth to any child because the children will disappear,” she explained.

Fortunately, Evaline received factual information at the Ololulung’a sub-county hospital, which is supported by UNFPA. With contraception, she has been able to space her deliveries. “I normally get a family planning [device that lasts] for five years. But after two years, I removed it and I conceived. Then after delivering, I again did the family planning because it's very helpful to me.”

Continued: https://www.unfpa.org/news/explainer-no-contraceptives-don%E2%80%99t-cause-abortions

11.08.2025

Nigeria – Family planning: Over 6,000 unsafe abortions recorded annually, experts lament

9 August 2025
By Akinnodi Francis, Ondo

A staggering 83 Nigerian women and girls die every year from preventable causes linked to poor access to family planning, experts have warned, as the country faces a deepening contraceptive shortage and massive funding cuts.

Also, every year, an estimated 6,321 Nigerian women undergo unsafe abortions, a grim indicator of the country’s deepening family planning crisis.

Continued; https://www.thehopenewspaper.com/family-planning-over-6000-unsafe-abortions-recorded-annually-experts-lament/

INDONESIA – Need sustainable contraceptive funding for quality families: govt

August 8, 2025

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Population and Family Planning Minister Wihaji has underlined the need for sustainable funding to support contraceptive access and build quality families in Indonesia.

“This is not just about funding, this also pertains to this nation’s (goals). We want to ensure that children are born from families who are ready, healthy, and happy,” the minister said here on Thursday.

During a meeting with the Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for Indonesia, Hassan Mohtashami, he also drew attention to the need for sustainable funding to protect women’s rights, reduce the maternal mortality rate, and encourage sustainable economic growth.

Continued: https://en.antaranews.com/news/372005/need-sustainable-contraceptive-funding-for-quality-families-govt

08.08.2025