With maternity centres under attack, more women are at risk of dying in pregnancy and childbirth by UN sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA) Ukraine   Dec. 2025   With maternity centres under attack, more women are at risk of dying in pregnancy and childbirth in Ukraine.   In a neonatal unit at Kyiv Hospital, Anton rests in a mobile incubator. He was born premature three days earlier, an occurrence that health workers say has become increasingly common.   “Many of the women coming here are under immense stress,” obstetrician Dr. Heintz told UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, which provides mobile incubators to the hospital. “The fear, the uncertainty, the travel – all of it contributes to complications in pregnancy.”   The violence, stress and displacement have had devastating consequences for pregnant women and newborns in Ukraine, with a 37 per cent rise in maternal death rates from 2023 to 2024, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners.   “We’ve seen a rise in premature births, and these babies depend on ventilators, on drugs that help them breathe, and on the staff who stay even during shelling,” added the doctor, himself displaced from his home in Donetsk.   Frequent electricity cuts, infrastructure damage and stock-outs of supplies and equipment mean many premature babies like Anton rely on humanitarian supplies and equipment from organizations like UNFPA.   “It’s the difference between life and death in some cases,” explained Dr. Heintz. “When the shelling starts, we just keep going on with our duties.”   Healthcare under attack   In early October 2025, a missile struck a UNFPA-supported maternity hospital in the city of Sumy, in northeast Ukraine. More than 160 pregnant women and new mothers, newborns and healthcare workers made it to a basement shelter just before impact.   And just last week, a maternity hospital in Kherson supported by UNFPA was damaged in an attack. Health workers and patients once again took shelter in the basement unit, which was constructed with UNFPA’s support.   The Kherson City Perinatal Centre is just 1.5 km from active front lines and remains under constant threat from artillery and drone attacks. Luckily, no one was injured – and a baby girl was even safely delivered underground.   Many hospitals have relocated delivery rooms to underground facilities, adjusting to terrifying conditions that few healthcare systems globally could withstand.   For health workers, these interventions are part of a daily reality that has redefined what it means to provide maternal care. The country’s doctors and midwives now operate in wards where electricity can fail at any moment, where air-raid sirens interrupt deliveries.   The attacks are part of a broader pattern of terror across Ukraine, where more than 80 maternity and neonatal care facilities have been damaged or destroyed since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022 – among over 2,500 healthcare sites hit nationwide.   War, stress and lack of access to medical services   Each new assault adds to a deepening national exhaustion. Mental health needs in Ukraine are soaring, with a recent survey revealing that almost 60 per cent of Ukrainians now experience anxiety and intense stress linked to the constant shelling, displacement and loss.   Experts have warned that millions of people are at risk of developing a mental health condition as a result of the war.   Doctors have also linked the chronic stress, displacement and frequent disruption of medical services to rising pregnancy complications, especially among women living in combat zones.   In Kherson, UNFPA estimates the number of preterm births to have reached 11.8 per cent – almost twice the national average – and the region also has the highest stillbirth rate in the country.   Many towns and villages in Kherson remain partially cut off from electricity, heating and medical care, making the currently high rates of Caesarean section deliveries even more perilous.   The latest report also states that the average rate of Caesarean section births across Ukraine stands at over 28 per cent – well above WHO’s recommended 10 to 15 per cent – with some of the highest levels near the front line, up to 46 per cent in Kherson.   UNFPA provides hospitals across Ukraine with essentials like mobile incubators, sterile neonatal equipment and life-saving medicines for premature newborns. Among these medicines are Curosurf and Peyona, which can be instrumental in helping premature babies breathe more easily at such a vulnerable stage of their lives.   UNFPA is also supporting the construction and refurbishment of underground maternity hospitals that allow women to give birth safely, even under bombardment. In the Kherson City Perinatal Centre, the underground ward registered a total of 118 deliveries underground in 2024, with 110 deliveries so far in 2025.   A similar facility is operating in Sumy and two additional centres are underway in Kharkiv, which are supported by the Government of Ireland.   Despite the harsh conditions, maternal health workers emphasize the need for stability and continuity of care. The ability to safely deliver children, they told UNFPA, is not just a medical necessity but a sign that community life can still exist amid the war.   * A new humanitarian appeal released today by UNFPA, calls for US$ 1 billion in urgent funding for 2026 to support women and girls caught up in some of the world’s worst crises – and who suffered some of the harshest impacts of the unprecedented funding cuts to the aid sector this year. UNFPA’s 2026 Humanitarian Action Overview aims to meet the needs of more than 34 million women, girls and young people in 42 countries: http://tinyurl.com/y86y7sz5   http://www.unfpa.org/news/maternity-centres-under-attack-more-women-are-risk-dying-pregnancy-and-childbirth-ukraine http://www.unfpa.org/emergencies http://www.unfpa.org/news http://www.savethechildren.net/news/about-8-million-babies-born-conflicts-and-climate-disasters-2025 http://www.savethechildren.net/what-we-do/emergencies Visit the related web page
	Online and digital spaces should empower women and girls by UN Women, agencies   Nov. 2025   There is #NoExcuse for online abuse   Online and digital spaces should empower women and girls. Yet every day, for millions of women and girls, the digital world has become a minefield of harassment, abuse, and control.   What can start small, on screens – a message, a comment, or a post – can quickly spiral into a torrent of threats and violence in real life. Private photos are stolen without consent. Lies spread in a matter of seconds. Locations are tracked. AI is weaponized to create deepfakes designed to shame and silence women.   This 16 Days of Activism (25 November – 10 December) join us as we rally for a world where technology is a force for equality – not harm.   Behind every statistic are real women and girls   Journalists who stop writing after death threats, activists who delete their accounts to protect their families, girls who lose confidence before they’ve even found their voices, women who are stalked, raped, or even killed. The harm may happen online, but its impact is painfully real, seeping into homes, workplaces, and communities.   And it’s happening at a time when sweeping aid cuts are forcing women’s organizations around the world to shut down or drastically scale back programmes to end violence against women.   Misogynistic content in the manosphere is fuelling the abuse and spreading disinformation and hate. When these toxic ideas go viral, they shape how entire generations see and treat women and girls. Inequality in access and power over technology deepens the risks for women and girls.   What needs to happen now and how to take action   Hold perpetrators accountable through better laws and enforcement. Make tech companies step up by hiring more women to create safer online spaces, removing harmful content quickly, and responding to reports of abuse. Support survivors with real resources by funding women’s rights organizations and movements. Invest in prevention and culture change through digital literacy and online safety training for women and girls and programmes that challenge toxic online cultures.   It’s time to reclaim our digital spaces and demand a future where technology powers equality.   http://www.unwomen.org/en/get-involved/16-days-of-activism http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2025/12/tipping-point-the-chilling-escalation-of-violence-against-women-in-the-public-sphere-in-the-age-of-ai http://www.unfpa.org/16days http://www.unfpa.org/thevirtualisreal http://www.unfpa.org/bodyright http://africarenewal.un.org/en/magazine/online-abuse-real-violence-and-africas-women-and-girls-are-paying-price http://www.unfpa.org/TFGBV http://www.unfpa.org/gender-based-violence http://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1q/k1qtfqmptt http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/childrens-exposure-intimate-partner-violence-against-their-mothers-pervasive   Online ‘manosphere’ is moving misogyny to the mainstream. (UN News)   A decline in democracy and harmful content spread on social media platforms are helping to drive a backlash against feminism, and the growth of misogynistic and retrograde ideas about the roles of men and women and society.   The pushback against gender equality is one of the findings in a major report from UN Women, the UN agency for gender equality, on the progress made so far in advancing women’s rights worldwide.   This latest version of the study, which is updated every five years, comes at a time of great uncertainty, as several donors announce major funding cuts, leading to the disruption of essential services for women worldwide.   The report measures the extent to which the aims of a groundbreaking women’s rights accord adopted in Beijing in 1995. Around a quarter of countries surveyed note a backlash against feminism and gender equality.   However, it is not all bad news: there have been many encouraging signs of progress over the last thirty years, from legal protections for women, to services and support for survivors of domestic abuse and bans on gender-based discrimination in the workplace.   Ahead of the launch of the report, Laura Turquet, the deputy head of the research and data team at UN Women, and Lydia Alpizar, a Costa Rican feminist activist based in Mexico City, spoke to UN News about the reasons for this renewed attack against feminism and what it means for the state of gender relations.   Laura Turquet: What we’re talking about is organised resistance to gains that have been made on gender equality, whether that's preventing the implementation of existing commitments, rolling them back or stopping new laws and policies.   Examples include the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States [a US Supreme Court decision that protected the right to abortion] and the decision by several European countries to pull out of the Istanbul Convention [a treaty on gender-based violence]. And elsewhere, from Argentina to Zimbabwe, we’ve seen a defunding of women’s ministries, or their mandates are changed from focusing on gender equality to a broader focus on families and children, which waters down their ability to drive policies forward.   Another element is the targeting of women's rights defenders and activists, women in politics, journalists and trade unionists who dare put their heads above the parapet and speak out on gender equality.   Lydia Alpizar: There most common form of attack is harassment and defamation, including criminalization, building fabricated charges against women's human rights defenders, or even arbitrarily detaining them, turning them into political prisoners.   It can also lead to more lethal forms of violence, such as disappearances and killings. In Mexico and Central America, we have documented 35,000 attacks on and 200 killings of women human rights defenders since 2012.   UN News: Is the situation in your region getting worse?   Lydia Alpizar: Yes. When we started, we didn't have as many killings. Right now, we have an open dictatorship in Nicaragua where there are political prisoners including women, and there are other countries with women’s rights defenders in prison, including Mexico. There are other defenders that are in prison, such as Kenia Hernandez in Mexico, or others who are protecting nature in El Salvador.   We are definitely seeing an increase in attacks on feminists working on gender-based violence, political participation an access to sexual and reproductive health and rights: the highest levels of abuse take place during March, which is women’s month, when most marches and public demonstrations in support of women take place.   UN News: What are the reasons for the increased threats and violence?   Lydia Alpizar: One has to do with the way in which agendas for gender equality and women's rights have been transforming the world.   We have definitely made progress across important areas that are included in the Beijing Declaration, in terms of legislation, policies and cultural transformation, really changing the way in which women are recognized in their public and private lives.   More women are leading movements that are challenging the interest of very powerful actors, so there is a backlash.   UN News: So, the pushback is a response to the progress that is being made?   Laura Turquet: I think that is true to a large extent, but it also goes hand in hand with a decline in the strength of democracies in general. Many countries are experiencing the erosion of key democratic institutions such as freedom of the press, free and fair elections, and the rights of women to speak in public.   They become a target of those who want to return to an imagined past where men and women had much more traditional roles.   It’s also linked to rising inequality. A few people at the top are doing extremely well whilst millions are being left behind. When people feel that they can't access a decent job or a basic standard of living, they look for scapegoats, whether it's migrants, LGBTQ people, or women who are speaking up.   UN News: Social media also seems to be connected, bringing formerly fringe ideas into the mainstream.   Lydia Alpizar: We have seen an increase of these kinds of narratives. Social media is a big platform for the dissemination of misogynistic and sexist ideas and women’s rights defenders are called bad mothers to stigmatize the work that they do and there is a trend of legitimizing violence against them.   Laura Turquet: There has a been a development of a “manosphere,” an online ecosystem where extreme and outdated ideas, particularly about violence against women, but also related to a very narrow kind of idea of masculinity.   But I also want to say that online spaces and social media have been a place where feminists can organize and link up with other kinds of social movement. I think we just have to make sure that those spaces are safe and that we root out misogynist and violent online environments so that women are not targeted in that way.   UN News: On balance, is the world in a better place, when it comes to gender relations?   Lydia Alpizar: Yes, absolutely. In the countries where I work, gender relations have been transformed and the world is a different place for women. Their is hope, but we're concerned about the challenges we face right now.   Laura Turquet: There has been significant progress since 1995. The proportion of women in parliaments has doubled, violence against women is on the political agenda in a way that it wasn’t thirty years ago, and maternal mortality has declined by a third.   But there's still so much to do. We need to make sure that 2025 is the year that we don't back down, that we continue to fight for justice, and we continue to march forward for the rights of women and girls.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164531 http://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/faqs/digital-abuse-trolling-stalking-and-other-forms-of-technology-facilitated-violence-against-women http://www.savethechildren.net/news/finland-one-three-girls-facing-sexual-abuse-online-messages-often-becoming-sexual-under-hour http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2024/10/intensification-of-efforts-to-eliminate-all-forms-of-violence-against-women-report-of-the-secretary-general-2024 http://blog.witness.org/2025/03/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence/   http://carnegieendowment.org/research/2025/06/the-new-global-struggle-over-gender-rights-and-family-values http://www.ids.ac.uk/news/podcast-strategies-for-countering-gender-backlash http://www.unrisd.org/en/activities/news-items/unrisd-puts-gender-backlash-in-the-spotlight-at-international-gender-champions-biannual-meeting http://www.unrisd.org/en/library/publications/understanding-backlash-against-gender-equality-evidence-trends-and-policy-responses   http://equalmeasures2030.org/2024-sdg-gender-index http://www.unicef.org/adolescent-girls-rights http://www.helpage.org/news/social-protection-can-transform-lives-of-older-women/ http://www.unfpa.org/emergencies http://www.unfpa.org/news/explainer-why-investing-women-and-girls-benefits-everyone http://gi-escr.org/en/resources/publications/a-care-led-transition-to-a-sustainable-future http://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/health/cash-transfer-kenya-poverty.html http://www.hrw.org/news/2025/07/14/standing-firm-on-womens-right-to-live-free-of-violence http://www.hrw.org/news/2025/03/07/state-womens-rights   Oct. 2025   One in three organizations have suspended or shut down programmes on ending violence against women due to funding cuts. (UN Women, agencies)   More than a third of organizations surveyed, 34 per cent, have suspended or shut down programmes to end violence against women and girls and more than 40 per cent have scaled back or closed life-saving services such as shelters, legal aid, psychosocial and healthcare support due to immediate funding gaps. 78 per cent reported reduced access to essential services for survivors, while 59 per cent perceived an increase in impunity and normalization of violence. Almost one in four said they had to suspend or completely halt interventions designed to prevent violence before it occurs.   “Women’s rights organizations are the backbone of progress on violence against women, yet they are being pushed to the brink. We cannot allow funding cuts to erase decades of hard-won gains. We call on governments and donors to ringfence, expand, and make funding more flexible. Without sustained investment, violence against women and girls will only rise”, said Kalliopi Mingeirou, Chief of the Ending Violence Against Women and Girls section, UN Women.   Violence against women and girls remains one of the most widespread human rights violations worldwide. An estimated 736 million women—almost one in three—have experienced physical or sexual violence, most often at the hands of an intimate partner.   Earlier this year, UN Women warned that most women-led organizations in crisis settings were facing severe funding cuts, with nearly half at risk of closure—a warning now echoed in the findings of At Risk and Underfunded.   The report’s findings also highlight that only five per cent of organizations anticipate being able to sustain operations for two years or longer. 85 per cent predict severe backsliding in laws and protections for women and girls, and 57 per cent report serious concerns about rising risks for women human rights defenders.   Funding shortfalls are happening alongside a growing backlash against women’s rights in one in four countries. As organizations lose funding, many are forced to focus only on basic services instead of long-term advocacy that drives real change.   At Risk and Underfunded comes as the world marks 30 years since the Beijing declaration and platform for action, a progressive roadmap agreed by Governments to achieve gender equality and women’s rights, that had ending violence against women at its heart.   http://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2025/10/one-in-three-organizations-have-suspended-or-shut-down-programmes-on-ending-violence-against-women-due-to-funding-cuts Visit the related web page
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