UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Ashley Judd spent a day in UNFPA Women and Girls Safe Space in Istanbul during her visit for the World Humanitarian Summit.

In response to over 2.7 million Syrian refugees, UNFPA Turkey Country Office has been providing services through 20 women and girls safe spaces (WGSS) all around Turkey. WGSS is a place where women and girls can receive information and services on reproductive health, women’s rights, gender based violence and gender equality, psychosocial support, acquire contextually relevant skills and rebuild their social networks in a non-stigmatizing environment. Three of those centers are in Istanbul and are being run in collaboration with ASAM - Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants and funded by ECHO – European Union Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection.

UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Ashley Judd spent a day in one of the UNFPA WGSS in Istanbul during her visit for the World Humanitarian Summit. Her first session was with the children clients of the center. Children have presented a dance show representing their longing to their country and hopes for their future. Then she met with the women clients, listened to them and also shared her own experiences.

“Many of the refugees here have already had the chance to access a lot of UNFPA services, and their lives are showing benefits and the resilience that is inevitable when women can access sexual and reproductive health services and gender-based violence counselling and have a place for their kids to go,” says Ashley Judd in her final words after the visit.