At age 47, Angelina Akongo was the oldest of 73 midwifery and nursing students from Juba and Kajo Keji to graduate this year – and she feels like a brand new person. “I am a better person now,” she said. Her success offers a clear lesson to those in her community: Age should never deter you from pursuing your dreams.

Women have a right to make their own decisions about whether, when and how often to become pregnant. That right was reaffirmed in 1994 at the landmark International Conference on Population and Development, where governments agreed that sexual and reproductive health is the foundation for sustainable development.

In 2018, we at UNFPA set in motion a strategic effort, based on quality data, to achieve three zeros by 2030: zero unmet need for contraception; zero preventable maternal deaths; and zero gender-based violence and harmful practices. This report shows the impact our programmes have had on the lives of women and girls in 155 countries and territories in 2018.