U.N. News: 54 million women and youth face staggering humanitarian challenges
“As COVID-19 continues to disproportionately impact women and girls hit by multiple humanitarian crises, the U.N. sexual and reproductive health agency appealed on Monday for $818 million to provide 54 million women and youth with essential and life-saving services throughout 2021. ‘The rights and needs of women and adolescent girls in emergencies are often overlooked, and COVID-19 has made matters worse, with rising intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and child marriage,’ said Natalia Kanem, executive director of the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA). Through its humanitarian appeal, UNFPA emphasized the need to adapt and integrate services for sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence (GBV), mental health, and psychosocial support during the pandemic. … In the Middle East, rising GBV and diminishing healthcare facilities in Yemen have prompted the need for $100 million, including to support more than a million pregnant and acutely malnourished women…” (12/7).