Attachments
FOREWORD
BY THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
“When will this ever end?” asked Eman, a displaced mother from Gaza, speaking to UNFPA field teams in August 2024. Like many in her community, she had been forced to flee multiple times amid unrelenting bombardment, with nowhere safe to turn and no end to her suffering in sight.
Eman’s words capture the profound sense of hopelessness and uncertainty shared by countless women and girls living through humanitarian emergencies. In 2024, conflicts, climate-driven disasters and other crises have displaced a record 122.6 million people — half of them women and girls. Many of these crises have spilled across borders, destabilizing entire regions and demanding unprecedented humanitarian responses. Pregnancy and childbirth don’t stop in these calamitous situations. Women and girls continue to need protection from gender-based violence.
“In 2024, our humanitarian responses across 59 crisis- affected countries provided over 10 million people with reproductive health services and ensured that over 3.6 million found protection from gender-based violence.”
At the core of UNFPA’s work is a simple, unwavering belief: No woman should die while giving life, and no woman or girl should live in fear of violence. Even in the most complex crises, we work to ensure access
to quality, life-saving care. This commitment has been our compass in 2024 as we responded across 59 crisis-affected countries, reaching more than 10 million people with reproductive health services and providing gender-based violence protection to 3.6 million more. In the face of unprecedented challenges, we equipped around 3,500 health facilities to deliver essential services and more than 1,600 safe spaces to offer refuge and empowerment to millions of women and girls.
UNFPA stands with women and girls against the backdrop of unprecedented violence in Haiti, as the war in Ukraine grinds on, and as protracted crises from Afghanistan to Yemen leave communities increasingly fragile.
In Sudan, UNFPA is working with local and women-led organizations to train health workers and midwives, improving the quality of services and building resilience within local communities. In Gaza, where tens of thousands of pregnant women face the risk of unsafe childbirth, UNFPA has deployed containerized maternity units equipped with staff and supplies to provide emergency obstetric care. Across West and Central Africa, UNFPA-supported humanitarian midwives have remained lifelines for thousands of pregnant women stranded without access to health care. To meet spiralling needs, UNFPA is delivering faster and reaching farther than ever. With the launch of our Global Emergency Response Team in 2024, UNFPA can now deploy expertise within hours of a crisis.
“While the gap between needs and resources is stark, the challenges extend beyond funding. The world faces a deepening global protection crisis.”
Our approach is not just about speed but about delivering real impact. UNFPA leads the humanitarian system’s efforts to prevent and respond to gender- based violence and provide essential sexual and reproductive health services.
We continue to expand and strengthen our cash and voucher programmes, giving women more control over their lives.
By prepositioning supplies, sharing expertise and developing anticipatory action plans, we ensure that life-saving resources are ready before disaster strikes.
Our deepened collaboration with local women-led organizations means that those on the front lines — who know their communities best — are empowered to lead in crisis responses. Women and girls are the backbone of recovery and resilience – and central to creating lasting peace and security.
As humanitarian needs escalate, however, critical funding continues to fall far short. Even as we lead global action to safeguard the health and safety of women and girls in crises, UNFPA’s humanitarian programmes are sorely underfunded. This leaves millions without access to essential care and protection. It means women risk dying during childbirth, survivors of violence are left without support, and countless lives and futures hang in the balance.
While the gap between needs and resources is stark, the challenges extend beyond funding. The world faces a deepening global protection crisis. All too often in conflict, international humanitarian law is flouted with impunity, and the use of rape as a weapon of war continues unabated. Sexual and reproductive rights are under siege around the world, with alarming rollbacks and potential funding cuts from key partners threatening to unravel hard-won progress.
The stakes could not be higher. That is why UNFPA is launching this $1.4 billion global appeal to deliver life- saving reproductive health and critical gender-based violence prevention services and programmes to more than 45 million women, girls and young people across 57 countries.
Amid these challenges, our resolve remains unshaken. UNFPA is grateful to our partners and donors for continuing to invest in our work. Supporting this appeal is a demonstration of our shared values and our collective commitment to a future where the health, rights, and dignity of women and girls are respected and protected. Together, let’s ensure that every woman and girl — no matter where she is — can live a life of safety, health and hope, in peace.
Dr. Natalia Kanem
Executive Director