May 23 each year marks the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula: http://www.un.org/en/events/endfistuladay/

Obstetric fistula is one of the most serious and tragic injuries that can occur during childbirth.

It is a hole between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum caused by prolonged, obstructed labour without treatment.

The condition typically leaves women incontinent, and as a result they are often shunned by their communities. Sufferers often endure depression, social isolation and deepening poverty. Many women live with the condition for years – or even decades – because they cannot afford to obtain treatment.

An estimated 2 million women in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Arab region, and Latin America and the Caribbean are living with this injury, and some 50,000 to 100,000 new cases develop each year. Yet fistula is almost entirely preventable.

Its persistence is a sign that health systems are failing to meet women’s essential needs.

In its resolution A/RES/67/147, the General Assembly calls on the international community to use the International Day to significantly raise awareness and intensify actions towards ending obstetric fistula.

As the leader of Campaign to End Fistula, UNFPA provides strategic vision, technical guidance and support, medical supplies, training and funds for fistula prevention, treatment and social reintegration programmes. UNFPA also strengthens reproductive health care and emergency obstetric services to prevent fistula from occurring in the first place. - See more at: http://www.unfpa.org/obstetric-fistula#sthash.gLYxprFe.dpuf

For our special video from Bangladesh to mark End Fistula Day 2017, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNT1OxF6mnQ

For more on the global End Fistula campaign, visit: www.endfistula.org

Follow our initiative via Twitter at @UNFPAasia, hashtag #EndFistula