Protect the World's Most Vulnerable from COVID-19

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, access to family planning has been widely disrupted by travel restrictions, interrupted supply chains, stock-outs and overwhelmed health facilities. An estimated 12 million women have experienced disruptions in their family planning services, leading to 1.4 million unintended pregnancies. These unintended pregnancies have put a great strain on families which were already struggling under pandemic-related financial burdens. The consequences of rising unintended pregnancy are not simply economic – they are also put the lives of women and their babies at risk.

Your support is essential in ensuring women have access to family planning support services, no matter what.

Nepali mother of five, Maya, is one of the 12 million women whose reproductive healthcare has been interrupted by the pandemic. She had been relying on injectable contraceptives from her nearby health center, but when she visited for a shot in June, there were none in stock. Maya was left without access to contraceptives for several months. “I was constantly worried about having an unwanted pregnancy,” she told UNFPA. Not long after missing her shot, she became pregnant. Maya’s newest child is well loved and healthy, but she acknowledges that their circumstances are now more precarious than before. "With a meagre income, raising our fifth child is going to be a tough battle for me and my husband," she explained.

One year into the pandemic, the strain it has put on already limited health care facilities continues to pose a significant threat to women’s reproductive health. With your help, we can ensure that women everywhere have reliable access to birth control and family planning services. Just $48 can provide 40 women with injectable contraceptives, so women like Maya have the ability to choose whether and when to have children. Please donate today!

As of last year, the island of Socotra, Yemen, was devoid of any reproductive care facilities. When Noor, now 20, experienced complications in her pregnancy, she had to travel hundreds of miles to give birth at a health facility. By the time she arrived, it was too late. She lost the baby. This year, Noor became pregnant again, but thanks to the reopening of the UNFPA supported Nawjad Health Center in Socotra, she was able to deliver at a clinic under the care of a midwife, free of charge. She had a healthy baby boy.

It is donations like yours that allow UNFPA to support health facilities like the Nawjad Health Center to continue providing lifesaving maternal services. “This health center was abandoned for a long time” said the center’s director. “But these days, it has become a lifeline for many women in Socotra.”

UNFPA estimates that approximately 6 million women and girls of childbearing age in Yemen need access to reproductive health care. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic is overwhelming the country’s health system, escalating the vulnerabilities of women and girls. Some 70% of UNFPA’s reproductive health programs in the country remain closed due to a lack of funding.  Only 61 out of 180 UNFPA-supported reproductive health facilities are functioning. We need your help to provide care to women who may be unable to access a clinic; Just $25 can provide five expecting mothers with clean delivery kits furnished with everything they need to give birth safely. Your generous contribution can save lives. Please donate today!