In the Bribri worldview of Costa Rica, when a young woman menstruates for the first time, she is considered ready to leave her home to start a new family and assume the role of motherhood. Although this indigenous cultural notion persists, it does not mean that all indigenous women follow this model. In fact, many women who can overcome… Read more →←
Topic: Impact
Whenever I am in a courtroom I remember the old legal quote: “the trial itself is a punishment.” Whether you are an accused, a witness or an injured person, being party to a trial is a stress that in many cases reaches the level of punishment. This principle is true for children whose emotions are particularly tender and susceptible.… Read more →←
An innovative approach to finding fresh water underground in drought-affected areas in Ethiopia. If you happen to drive by it, the steel pipe standing at attention in the middle of the desert doesn’t look very impressive. Yet, this pipe and the borehole beneath it currently form UNICEF Ethiopia’s most innovative and exciting project… Read more →←
“Two triplets were born in our district maternal wards this year,” says Nemat Abdullayev, a neonatologist from Gurlan, a remote town in northwestern Uzbekistan, with an air of satisfaction. “Both cases were premature births — the babies were 31 and 32 weeks old. Fortunately, they survived and left the hospital fully… Read more →←
In Kasai, one of poorest regions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), children are the first victims of the conflict that ignited in August 2016. Wherever violence erupts, children are recruited into militias. UNICEF and its partners have helped 826 former and released child soldiers by providing psycho-social services and… Read more →←
Kazakhstan has one of the highest suicide rates among adolescents worldwide. This is why UNICEF has stepped up its efforts to combat adolescent suicides and improve the overall mental wellbeing of adolescents in the country. In a large-scale pilot program UNICEF is currently raising awareness about mental health in schools, training… Read more →←
“I wish we could go back to living in our home like it was before a rocket hit it.” Raquiaa, 6, lives with her older sister, Rukaya, 7, younger brother Saleh and parents in Janzour, Libya. In 2014, when the conflict started, an explosion hit their house injuring Saleh who was just three months old at the time. Rukaya and Raquiaa were… Read more →←
Daniel tried to migrate to the United States to reunite with his parents. He didn’t succeed. UNICEF staff talked with him in El Salvador to understand how technology affects the migration process and to seek solutions. Daniel (not his real name) doesn’t stop looking at his cell phone. Sometimes he dives into WhatsApp. Other times, he… Read more →←
“I am used to the difficulties,” says Cira Kanote, 16. Bent over a muddy river with her baby daughter Daby tied to her back, she scoops up some dirt in her calabash, a container made of gourd, and carefully sifts through it. Married when she was only 14, Cira became pregnant immediately by her 36 year old husband. The… Read more →←
“We used to think that when the mother has swollen feet she is pregnant with twins, but now we know that when we see a mother with swollen feet, it is important for that mother to go to the health unit.” In 2015, 19 out of every 1,000 babies born in Uganda died within their first 28 days of life – 30,000 newborns in total. Many… Read more →←
