Early on a Friday morning in the Ukrainian village of Seredne, a mobile sexual reproductive health clinic is already busy.

Roma families, who have been doubly impacted by the war – first by destruction and displacement and then by discrimination – are lining up for essential services. Many have come to this village, in the Zakarpattia region of western Ukraine, after fleeing conflict across the country following Russia’s full-scale invasion.

A mobile team supported by UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, is ensuring that Roma women and girls are not excluded from essential health services. We followed the team as it did its vital work.

While embarking on journeys in search of safety, Roma families have reported experiencing stigma and discrimination including difficulty finding shelter and transportation, mistreatment at border checkpoints  and impeded access to services and humanitarian aid. Mobile health units are a lifeline.

Indeed, women and girls across the Zakarpattia region have much to gain from mobile healthcare. Zakarpatti has a high rate of teenage pregnancy; in 2023, it recorded the highest number of births among girls under 14 in Ukraine.

Prior to UNFPA’s establishing the mobile team in October 2022, many pregnant teenagers were not receiving prenatal care, due to the rural locale and fear of discrimination, increasing the risk from any complications.

The specialist mobile team, which includes an obstetrician-gynaecologist, ultrasound specialist, nurse, paediatrician and midwife, regularly travels to remote communities, helping to reduce the number of women and girls who face pregnancy or childbirth without medical supervision, thereby lowering the risk of preventable maternal deaths.

UNFPA strives to ensure that all women and girls are able to make their own choices and to live healthy and full lives. No one should be excluded from efforts to fulfil these rights, and inclusivity must be a key principle of recovery in Ukraine.