The UNFPA Humanitarian Action 2021 Overview highlights the needs and rights of women and adolescent girls in emergencies, which are often overlooked. It highlights the world’s biggest crises for women and girls. 

UNFPA is appealing for $818 million, to reach 54 million women, girls and young people, including 35 million women of reproductive age, 29 million adolescents and young people, and over 4 million pregnant women in 68 countries. 

Through this report, UNFPA emphasizes the need to adapt and integrate services for sexual and reproductive health (SRH), gender-based violence (GBV), and mental health and psychosocial support during COVID-19. UNFPA also calls for more investment in local women-led organizations as well as youth organizations that work as frontline responders and changemakers. In addition, the appeal outlines how humanitarian assistance, sustainable development and peacebuilding are key pathways for recovery from COVID-19.

It also highlights the extraordinary cooperation and resourcefulness that allowed UNFPA, in 2020, to reach more than 7 million women in 53 countries with SRH services; 4.4 million people with family planning supplies and services; and 2.8 million people with services to address GBV.