EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This document provides country-level data for UNFPA staff preparing funder conversations about specific geographies. Each brief includes: the SRHR situation, climate exposure, UNFPA programme status, and partnership opportunities. Countries are organised by partnership potential — from established programmes with strong evidence to frontier settings where investment is most needed.
BANGLADESH: Climate-SRHR Nexus Showcase
The Numbers
- MMR: 123 per 100,000 (2020 estimate) — down 72% from 434 in 2000
- Climate rank: 7th most climate-vulnerable country globally
- Flood exposure: 35–40 million people live in highly flood-prone areas
- Displacement projection: 1 in 7 Bangladeshis displaced by 2050 from sea-level rise
- 96% of households in seven most-vulnerable districts report extreme weather in past 10 years; 45% experienced displacement
Climate-SRHR Evidence
A landmark 2025 study from Khulna (Women's Health/SAGE Journals) — the first to apply an intersectional climate justice lens to SRHR in Bangladesh — documented:
- Climate events (cyclones, flooding, salinity rise) directly causing miscarriage, pregnancy complications, and premature labour
- Disrupted contraceptive supply chains increasing unintended pregnancies
- Child marriage, forced abortion, and reproductive coercion as coping mechanisms
- Cyclone shelters lacking women-friendly facilities, creating GBV exposure hotspots
UNFPA Programme
- Significant country programme with community skilled birth attendants (CSBAs) operating through annual 4–6 month floods in Haor wetlands
- Pre-positioned delivery kits; boat transport pre-arranged with local fishermen
- SRHR data quality improvements in national health information system (2024)
- One of six countries that improved SRHR data systems in 2024
Partnership Opportunity
Bangladesh is the strongest evidence case for climate-SRHR programming. Funders interested in climate adaptation can see tangible, documented results here. The community health worker model (CSBAs operating through floods) is a proven delivery mechanism that needs scale-up funding for climate resilience upgrades.
PHILIPPINES: Disaster SRHR Pioneer
The Numbers
- MMR: 84 per 100,000 (2023) — declining; forecasted to ~56 by 2028
- Disaster exposure: Highest disaster risk in the world (2024 assessment); 20 typhoons/year; 60% of land hazard-exposed; 74% of population susceptible
- BARMM: MMR approximately twice the national average in Muslim Mindanao
- 30% of pregnancies are unintended
Disaster-SRHR Programmes
- Post-Typhoon Haiyan (2013): the most extensively documented humanitarian SRHR operation in Asia — 500,000+ women lost maternal health access
- UNFPA deployed Women's Health on Wheels (WHoW) — first mobile SRH unit of its kind
- Barangay-level SRHR focal points restored contraceptive access faster post-disaster
- Post-Typhoon Rai/Odette: 95% of evacuation centres had no women-friendly safe spaces
- UNFPA Philippines has institutionalised Disaster Risk Reduction-SRHR integration
Recent Partnerships
- UNFPA-Bayer Philippines agreement (November 2024–December 2025): adolescent SRHR peer champions programme
- Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment partnered with UNFPA's Coalition for Reproductive Justice in Business
- SM Cares (Philippines) participating in CRJB regional launch
Partnership Opportunity
The Philippines offers the most mature disaster-SRHR preparedness model in Asia. Funders interested in climate disaster response have a proven, documented system to invest in. The gap is: barangay focal point roles are voluntary, kit replenishment is inconsistent, and long-term integration requires budget support.
NEPAL: Community Health Worker Star Performer
The Numbers
- MMR: 142 per 100,000 (2023 UN estimate) — 71% reduction since 2000 (regional star)
- FCHV network: ~52,000 Female Community Health Volunteers
- Earthquake risk: GLOFs (glacial lake outburst floods) increasing; 2015 Gorkha earthquake caused massive health infrastructure damage
- WHO flagged reduced funding as a threat to Nepal's maternal health gains (2025)
Why Nepal Matters for Funders
Nepal's FCHV network is the most extensively documented CHW resilience case globally:
- FCHVs stayed operational during the 2015 earthquake when external staff evacuated
- Community-selected (not externally appointed) — creating accountability and trust
- Primary link for contraceptive distribution, GBV reporting, and safe deliveries when facilities destroyed
- The FCHV model is more durable than comparable CHW programmes with external appointment
Partnership Opportunity
A PPP that funds "CBD+" — community health worker networks upgraded to be climate-resilient — has the strongest evidence backing in Nepal. Emergency kits, communication systems, MISP training, and graduated crisis protocols are concrete, fundable interventions. Nepal is a high-evidence, high-impact case for Singapore-based resilience finance.
MYANMAR: Crisis Within a Crisis
The Numbers
- MMR: 179 per 100,000 (UN estimate) — almost certainly higher in reality
- IDPs: Over 3.5 million (end-2024) — 72% surge in one year
- Humanitarian need: 19.9 million people (one-third of population)
- Health attacks: 433 health facility attacks documented in 2024
- March 2025 earthquake: ~70 health facilities destroyed, 2 million affected
- At current trend: Myanmar will not meet SDG maternal mortality target for 32 more years
UNFPA Access
- Pre-coup: UNFPA had climate-conflict programming; now largely inaccessible in conflict zones
- 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan targets only 5.5 million of 19.9 million in need
- Only 26% of 2025 appeal funded
- WHO/CERF: $13 million emergency allocation for maternal healthcare access
Partnership Angle
Myanmar is the hardest case in Asia-Pacific but also the most urgent. For funders willing to engage in fragile settings, UNFPA's presence in Myanmar — however constrained — represents one of the few channels for SRHR service delivery. This is not a commercial returns conversation; this is a humanitarian imperative conversation.
PACIFIC SIDS: Existential Climate Adaptation
The Numbers
- Sea-level rise: Western Pacific up to 20 mm/year (vs. 5.9 mm global mean in 2024)
- Tuvalu, Kiribati, Marshall Islands: 25–58 cm rise by 2050; 50–80% of urban areas potentially submerged by 2070–2110
- All 200,000 people in atoll nations live within 5m above sea level; 90% of Pacific population within 5km of coast
- Annual economic losses: 7% of Tuvalu's GDP, 3–4% for Marshall Islands and Kiribati
- At least 50,000 Pacific islanders face climate displacement annually
Health Systems
- 62% of Pacific health facilities within 500m of sea or river
- Countries like Marshall Islands, Kiribati have among world's highest TB incidence
- MMR: Papua New Guinea ~194, Timor-Leste ~257 (highest in subregion), Solomon Islands ~122
- Severe SRHR data gaps — no reliable data on intrapartum stillbirths for most Pacific countries
- Scaling midwifery to universal coverage by 2035 could avert 65% of stillbirths
Climate Finance Progress
- GCF Cook Islands: First climate-health project in Pacific ($12.5M grant)
- GCF FSM: Health resilience project approved 2025
- WHO/UNDP/GEF: $17.85M for Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
- Pacific Resilience Facility: Pacific-led pooled climate finance mechanism established
- IOM Climate Mobility Action Plan 2026–2028: targeting 9,000 people/year
Partnership Opportunity
Commercial returns are impossible here. Pacific SIDS require grant capital or highly concessional instruments. The argument for funders: this is where climate change is no longer a projection — it is existential reality. Supporting SRHR in these communities supports human survival and dignity under conditions that will increasingly characterise other coastal regions globally.
INDIA: Scale and CSR Opportunity
The Numbers
- MMR: Declined significantly; seven states below 100 per 100,000
- Self-help groups: Over 67 million women in SHGs (NABARD 2022)
- Mandatory CSR: India's CSR spending grew from $1.2 billion (2015) to $4.17 billion (2024)
- Continental-scale heterogeneity: Bihar, Assam, Odisha (flood-prone); Rajasthan (drought/heat)
Key Partnerships
- UNFPA India partnered with Shahi Exports (October 2025): satellite clinics near factories, biometric sanitary napkin access — reaching garment workers directly
- TATA Motors and IKEA India participating in Coalition for Reproductive Justice in Business
- Utkrisht DIB (Rajasthan): 405 facilities accredited, 13,449 deaths averted (modeled)
- World Bank approved $286M outcomes-linked programme for West Bengal (January 2026)
Partnership Opportunity
India's mandatory CSR creates a unique funding channel. Indian corporations must spend 2% of net profits on social causes — and health/women's empowerment qualify. UNFPA can position itself as the technical partner for corporate CSR programmes focused on maternal health, family planning, and GBV prevention in factory/agricultural worker communities.
INDONESIA, VIETNAM, THAILAND: Middle-Income Growth Markets
Common Features
- Stronger health systems but significant climate exposure in rural/peri-urban areas
- SRHR gaps particularly acute for indigenous/minority populations in climate-exposed regions
- Middle-income status means: more domestic financing capacity, but also less ODA eligibility
Key Data Points
- Indonesia: Zakat system reached $2.55 billion (2024) — potential Islamic social finance channel for health
- Thailand: UNFPA partnered with TraffyFondue civic tech app to create SoSafe digital GBV reporting — 1,000+ cases addressed, 6,000+ officials trained, 580,000+ reached
- Vietnam: Sweef Capital portfolio includes women-led businesses (Teky Academy, USM Healthcare)
Partnership Opportunity
These countries are where blended finance structures are most feasible — middle-income economies with commercial activity, domestic capital markets, and government co-financing capacity. Singapore-based family offices and DFIs can invest here with near-commercial return expectations.
SOURCES
- WHO/UNFPA/UNICEF/World Bank: Trends in Maternal Mortality 2000–2023
- UNFPA Asia-Pacific Annual Report 2024
- UNFPA Pacific 2024 Annual Report
- World Bank: Pacific Atoll Countries CCDR (November 2024)
- Dijkerman et al. (2025): Khulna Bangladesh SRHR study (Women's Health/SAGE)
- OCHA Myanmar Humanitarian Update No. 43
- UNFPA Philippines: Women's Health on Wheels
- Nepal FCHV programme evaluations (MoHP, WHO)
- GCF: Annual Progress Report 2024; Cook Islands and FSM approvals
- NABARD: Status of Micro Finance in India 2022–23
- UNFPA CRJB regional launch (May 2025)
Evidence quality rating: Strong on country-level MMR and demographic data (UN MMEIG). Moderate on programme effectiveness (mostly process evaluations, not RCTs). Strong on climate exposure data (IPCC, World Bank). Moderate on partnership opportunities (based on mandate alignment, not confirmed commitments).