Bushra was only 14 years old when her family arranged a child marriage to an older man, and a year later she became pregnant. She was a mother of six when her husband lost his job. Suddenly the family could not make ends meet in war-torn Yemen, where the economy had collapsed. Bushra then learned about Springboard, a UNFPA-supported programme that aims to empower women by helping them create livelihoods for themselve...

Over a woman’s lifetime, she could easily spend three to eight years menstruating. Misconceptions and mismanagement of menstruation can hamper women’s ability to exercise some of their basic human rights, and to contribute to their communities. Gender inequality, extreme poverty, humanitarian crises and harmful traditions can all turn menstruation into a time of deprivation and stigma. In such cases of heightened vu...

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) took place in Cairo in 1994. 179 world leaders reached a consensus and adopted a  programme of action, which enshrined individual reproductive rights as a basic human right. For the first time, the ICPD shifted the focus from demographic targets to human lives. Leaders promised universal access to reproductive health services and information, and vowe...