Fifteen-year-old Shaymaa was running alongside her friend Marwa, following a 2 KM route along the Nile in the governorate of Aswan. Shaymaa plays football and says she is used to jogging in the streets. “I don’t care if people bother me, it’s just sports.” But unlike Shaymaa, Marwa was always reluctant to use the streets to run. Yet, she was encouraged to participate in the 2 KM run organized by UNFPA, as part of...

If you were to ask Aya Seyam about issues related to sexual and reproductive health five years ago, she would become visibly uncomfortable and could even break into tears. Today, she says advocating against harmful practices such as FGM and early marriage has become her passion. At the age of 20, Aya signed up to become a trainer with Y-PEER, UNFPA’s youth leadership network. The first session, she was tasked to d...

Mary Oloiparuni was 13 when she was mutilated. Restrained in a doorway early one morning in her home, she was cut, bled profusely and experienced agonizing pain. The scarring she endured then continues to cause her pain today, 19 years later. It has made giving birth to each of her five children an excruciating and harrowing experience. Mary is not alone. At least 200 million girls and women alive today have had the...