People living with HIV in Georgia often face difficulties accessing health care and other services because of widespread misconceptions and stigma. UNFPA is working to increase awareness and understanding, especially among young people, so that people with HIV can live free from discrimination and everyone feels safe seeking out information, testing and treatment.

"I always dreamed of having my own family,” said Sashka Smilkova. “But the family didn’t think I could get pregnant because of my disability. They even thought I might die giving birth." Ms. Smilkova, 35, from Kratovo, a small town in eastern North Macedonia, is deaf and has a severe spinal deformity. In 2019, she found out she was pregnant. "When I found out I was pregnant, everyone in the family to...

ISTANBUL, 17 April 2024 – Thirty years after the international community agreed on an ambitious programme to put people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights at the heart of global development, massive inequalities persist and millions of people, generally among the most disadvantaged population groups, remain excluded from the significant progress recorded overall across all world regions. This is the con...