In Nigeria, countless women and girls endure Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a brutal practice often used under the guise of cultural or religious practice, which inflicts chronic pain, depression, infertility, and even death. 

Nigeria accounts for 10% of FGM cases worldwide, affecting approximately 20 million women and girls. This traumatic procedure can lead to obstetric fistula, a devastating childbirth injury that makes life a daily battle of humiliation and despair.

If the threat of harmful practices like FGM wasn’t enough, Nigerian women also face the risk of obstetric fistula, a debilitating childbirth injury in which a tear in the birth canal leaves women leaking urine or feces. FGM and obstetric fistula are preventable tragedies and an ongoing, grave injustice to women and girls in Nigeria.

Thanks to the compassion of supporters like you, UNFPA is bringing lifesaving care to survivors and training midwives around the world to help mothers safely deliver their babies and prevent obstetric fistula from occurring.

Saratu, an obstetric fistula survivor, shared how her partner divorced her due to her condition, which occurred because of long and painful labor. “Then I started crying, crying to my parents, siblings, and loved ones, kept staying indoors without eating or drinking but always in tears because of the situation.”

Saratu received a free surgery at a UNFPA-supported facility to address her condition, but not everyone has been reached in time.

Gift Abu, an activist in Nigeria who advocates for the abandonment of FGM, told us about a woman who died from a fistula:

“Hajiya (I never got to know her real name) was a victim. She was neglected and ridiculed as a warning to every uncut female. I can still hear the abuses thrown at her, the mockery, the warnings, the curses, and the scorn. I ran forward to help as she was in pain but I was too late. She had been in labor for two days.” 

These surgeries ensure women and girls living with fistula and FGM aren’t left behind, but to deliver this lifesaving care, we need your help. You have the power to help address and end these devastating injuries and practices and the stigmas that come with them.

Ending the preventable suffering Nigerian women and girls endure isn’t charity — it’s a matter of human rights, equity, and dignity.

With your support, we can continue to extend our reach, provide necessary education and surgeries, and advocate for reform for the rights and health of women and girls across Nigeria and beyond. Together, let's work toward a future where every woman and girl can thrive.

Thank you for your continued commitment to being there for women and girls around the world.

— USA for UNFPA