Stories
Around the world, people are finding new ways to remove the barriers to fundamental rights. By blending tech solutions with the wisdom and knowledge of UNFPA’s network of partners, these innovations are changing lives at scale. UNFPA is partnering with innovators to accelerate progress for women and girls. This collection of stories gives us a glimpse into some of the challenges and best ideas that are making an impact.
“We are in the middle of a technological transformation. Women and girls are more connected than ever before with smartphones. We need to improve our digital tools to engage with women, girls and other vulnerable groups.”
The Latin America and Caribbean region is home to the largest population of African descendants, with 134 million people identifying as people of African descent. The Youth Leadership School for young people of African descent in the Latin America and Caribbean region seeks to strengthen young people’s technical and entrepreneurial skills by empowering them through targeted skill training and encouraging entrepreneurship by building an enabling environment. Read more
“The goal with the Youth Leadership School was to help create a world where every young person’s potential is fulfilled.”
The Geospatial Dashboard on Intimate Partner Violence is an open source platform that helps governments, researchers and service providers use data to better understand the connections between gender-based violence, poverty, education and SDG indicators related to UNFPA’s mandate. The platform uses disaggregated data on a sub-national level and illustrates key socio-demographic characteristics of violence. Read more
“There is real momentum in addressing violence against women globally.”
“Training midwives is critical and should use a blended learning approach coupling e-learning with practical hands-on mentorship programs. We need to take these systems to scale with partners that can accelerate this kind of innovation”
Rwanda: The Mobile Learning System is a user-friendly and portable, cost-effective training solution, adapted to rural and hard-to-reach areas relevant for both pre-and in service midwives. Dr. Mathias Gakwerere is the national programme officer for Maternal Health and Midwifery at UNFPA Rwanda. He helped bring the project to his home country after seeing how colleagues in neighboring countries had developed the innovative teaching tool. Read more
UNFPA Innovation announces the launch of a toolkit that will help countries adapt digital solutions to meet the needs of women, adolescents and the most vulnerable. The platform builds on momentum from eight global projects that have helped deliver life-saving information and services with customized platforms from Nepal to Nicaragua. Read more
“We are empowered by technology.”
Armendia /Iraq: Ms. Mariam Torosyan is a social entrepreneur from Yerevan in Armenia. She is the founder and CEO of the Impact Innovations Institute, which launched Safe YOU in 2020. The innovative, all-in-one platform helps women connect with a community that supports survivors of gender-based violence. Read more
North Macedonia: ACCESS-ABILITY is an innovation project that set out to develop materials to help young people with autism spectrum disorder access comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). Ms. Jovanka Brajovic Grigorijevic and Ms. Irena Spirkovska are part of the UNFPA North Macedonia team that is developing a platform for educators and families to teach visual lessons for young people living with disabilities, helping them better understand their bodies and their rights. Read more
“The sexual and reproductive health of persons living with disability is not the first thing that comes to mind when you speak about the needs of persons with special needs.”
Innovations from around the world show us what’s possible when UNFPA teams up with governments, techies and frontline service providers to end gender-based violence. Read more
Videos
Colombia: There is a growing alliance between midwives and traditional Chocó who carry ancestral knowledge transmitted from generation to generation to welcome new lives and care for women. Today they are working together as part of a social innovation called ‘Patera Vitale’, developed with UNFPA Colombia.
Benin: UNFPA and Takeda have joined forces to fly medical supplies to women in remote communities. Watch the video
Nicaragua: UNFPA worked with Profamilia Nicaragua to develop the Appsistencia Materna smartphone app. The app provides care for pregnant women, family planning and comprehensive sexuality education, and added a teleconsultation component that allows virtual monitoring by doctors during the pregnancy and timely care to every patient. In November 2021, UNFPA Nicaragua’s Appsistencia Materna won the UNFPA Innovation for Impact Award for the Latin America region.