The world’s leading family planning funder, the United States, has stalled all funding to the UNFPA and threatens to eliminate global aid directed at family planning and global health. An estimated 214 million women worldwide have an unmet need for modern contraception. The loss of such crucial funding could not only derail efforts to provide contraceptives but would interfere with access to quality health services and information for women worldwide. These effects could be far more severe for women living in crisis.

To be pregnant in the middle of a humanitarian setting is already a dangerous situation, but for girls aged 15 to 19 the risk of pregnancy-related death is already twice as high than for somebody in their twenties. For girls aged 10 to 14, the risk is five times higher.

Rates of sexual and gender-based violence are higher in humanitarian crises such as war, natural disasters, and famine. Women and girls are further exposed to the vulnerabilities of womanhood: Rape, sexual exploitation, increased risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, maternal death, unsafe pregnancies, and forced marriage. Reproductive health issues are already a leading cause of death and illness for women of childbearing age under normal circumstances.

Read the full article by Sarah Akin at Global Envision