SIGN THE CARD: Global funding cuts for UNFPA’s lifesaving work have put pressure on healthcare workers across the globe to do more with less — even in the world’s most dire and desperate situations.

Our work isn’t possible without expert midwives, doctors, counselors, and community workers on the ground. Will you remind them that, even when the rest of the world is turning away, their tireless dedication to women and girls is appreciated?

A UNFPA midwife holds a baby in Yemen. The clinic she worked at has now closed. UNFPA Yemen

“I provided assistance, but the baby was already dead. I couldn’t stop the bleeding. Without a gynecologist, I was unable to save her life.”

Hanan, a 25-year-old mother of three in Yemen, came to midwife Akaber for help when she started experiencing complications during a home birth. Akaber did her best with the training and tools she had, but tragically, both Hanan and her baby lost their lives.

Earlier this year, this situation would have been entirely different.

Six months ago, Akaber worked alongside a gynecologist at her clinic. Unfortunately, the gynecologist lost her job when the U.S. government cut funding for UNFPA’s lifesaving work.

In Yemen alone, these funding cuts have caused 1,400 UNFPA staff to lose their jobs, 68 clinics, safe spaces, and mobile health teams to shutter their doors, and training for 800 new midwives to halt.

The staff left behind, like Akaber, are providing the best care they can for women and girls, but sometimes it’s just not enough. Hanan and her baby paid the price with their lives, and every loss takes its toll on healthcare workers.

If you have a moment, will you add your name and a few words of encouragement to healthcare workers like Akaber who are delivering care in the world’s most challenging crises?

ADD MY NAME

In Kenya, funding cuts are impacting the availability of contraception and are jeopardizing the progress healthcare workers like Elizabeth have spent their careers building, so women and girls can make decisions for their bodies, families, and futures.

The most requested contraception in Kenya is the shot, which many women prefer because it is short-term and discreet. However, it’s out of stock across the country, leaving women and girls to switch to more obvious options like implants, pills, or condoms — risking violence — or take their chances using nothing at all.

“There was a time when a lady came for an implant, and when the husband realized, he almost chopped it out with his own knife,” Elizabeth shared.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, 1,300 healthcare workers are no longer employed, and 500 out of 900 UNFPA clinics have closed. In a country where male healthcare staff are not permitted to treat women and where no new female healthcare workers can be trained, this reality has been completely devastating for women and girls.

In fact, during the recent earthquake crisis in Afghanistan, women and girls were left to die under the rubble because there weren’t enough female responders to pull them from collapsed buildings and treat their wounds.

And across the globe, a heartbreaking 383 aid workers have been killed, while working or in their homes. Our staff remain on the ground, delivering care even while under fire, starving, and exhausted.

We are so lucky to have incredibly talented and committed healthcare staff in Yemen, Kenya, Afghanistan, and around the world working with us to deliver essential sexual and reproductive healthcare, even as emergencies become deadlier and supplies run short.

Please, will you add your name to the card and let UNFPA workers know you care?

ADD MY NAME

Thank you for supporting women, girls, and the dedicated staff who provide this lifesaving care.

— USA for UNFPA