Bangladesh

In February 2018, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Ashley Judd travelled to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh to meet Rohingya refugees who have escaped violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. There, she visited UNFPA-supported clinics and women-friendly spaces, where women and girls can find safety, solace and space to recover from severe trauma. 

Dispatches from the road: Ashley Judd on the horrors facing Rohingya refugees.

Sri Lanka

Just days earlier, Ms Judd was in Sri Lanka, where she met with women, girls and young people from various walks of life, as well as leaders from the public and private sectors, to discuss the importance of investing in reproductive health and rights and addressing gender-based violence and other challenges. 

Speaking at her press briefing in Colombo, Ms. Judd said "What UNFPA advocates for is voluntary human rights-based individual empowerment regarding one's reproductive health; the opportunity and the dignity of deciding if and when and whether and how many children to have. And that requires making all different kinds of modern family planning methods available for individuals to have that autonomy and dignity of choice”.

Ashley Judd highlights reproductive health and rights in Sri Lanka