World Population Day

In 1989, the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme recommended that 11 July be observed by the international community as World Population Day, a day to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues.

International Day to End Obstetric Fistula

Obstetric fistula is one of the most serious and tragic injuries that can occur during childbirth. The condition typically leaves women incontinent, as well as subject to infections or other health conditions. Women with fistula are often shunned by their communities.

Yet the condition is almost entirely preventable. Its persistence is a sign of global inequality and an indication that health systems are failing to protect the health and human rights of the poorest and most vulnerable women and girls.

International Day of the Midwife

Midwives – and people with midwifery skills – are the main caregivers for women and their newborns during pregnancy, labour, childbirth and in the post-delivery period. Skilled midwives are the difference between life and death for hundreds of thousands of women and infants every year.

Yet there are massive midwife shortages around the world. UNFPA works at the global, regional and national level to scale up midwifery services, supporting training efforts and providing supplies and materials to midwifery institutions.