The year 2021 was a challenging one for the communities, the world, and for the millions of young women and girls in East and Southern Africa. Despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles that hampered our efforts in delivering a better region and a sustainable world through our Transformative Results, we rose with grit and grace to face these challenges.

Health systems strained under the weight of the pandemic, supply chains unraveled, and our programmes and services were delayed. In the middle of these health-related crossfires, women and girls became targets – vulnerable to gender-based violence and harmful practices, maternal deaths, and complications from the lack of access to family planning.

Through disruptions and changes, our resilience, our agility, our sense of purpose remained solid. Read how we rose to the challenge in our 2021 annual report.

Source: United Nations Population Fund