Thomson Reuters Foundation: Help save Rohingya women and girls: A plea to our donors, a plea to our world
Natalia Kanem, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

“…Women do not stop giving birth during humanitarian crises. … UNFPA does what it can to save every mother and newborn’s life through emergency obstetric care and expansion of maternal health services. … But even all of this is nowhere near enough. … That’s why the urgent needs of women and girls must also be prioritized in Geneva on October 23, where a multi-country ministerial-level pledging conference with donor governments and the United Nations will seek to raise the necessary funding to match the sustainable humanitarian response required. The plan calls for U.S.$434 million to meet the lifesaving needs of all Rohingya refugees and their host communities — an estimated 1.2 million people in total — in the months ahead. We appeal to all current and potential donor governments and institutions to respond swiftly to help us and our humanitarian partners scale up our response to save lives and restore dignity to the hundreds of thousands of our fellow human beings — including vulnerable women and girls — trapped in a protracted situation none of us would ever wish for our loved ones, or ourselves” (10/20).