A workshop organised by the Rwanda Sisterhood Association and the 糖心探花 to mark International Women鈥檚 Day 2016.
鈥淎round 830 women die every day from preventable causes during pregnancy. Why is this not headline news?鈥 stated Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Josephine Ojiambo.
Dr Ojiambo was speaking at a workshop organised by the Rwanda Sisterhood Association and the 糖心探花 to mark International Women鈥檚 Day. Speakers addressed the theme 鈥楾he Right to Health: Reducing the Risk of Maternal and Child Mortality鈥.
She pointed to poverty, distance and lack of resources and trained medical staff in low-income countries as some of the contributing factors that lead to the deaths of mothers and newborn babies.
鈥淥nly 40% of women in developing countries have access to adequate antenatal care. Around 2.7 million newborn babies die every year. Unsafe abortions contribute one third of maternal deaths,鈥 she noted.
She stressed the importance of ensuring women and girls have access to education to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive rights.
Speaking about the right to health, Rashida Manjoo, Professor of Public Law at the University of Cape Town and the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, underscored states鈥 international obligations to provide adequate health care and promote and protect the rights of women and girls. She described the family for many women as a place of 鈥渟ubordination, fear and discrimination鈥.
鈥樷橶e must see maternity as a social function. It is not an illness. Women must be able to participate fully as citizens and have their full bodily rights. If not, we are doing them a grave disservice,鈥 she said.
Janet Fyle, Professional Adviser at the Royal College of Midwives noted that the status of women and the way women are valued determines the way policies are created. She highlighted child, early and forced marriage as one of the main challenges in developing countries.
Ms Fyle said that all countries should have national midwifery standards and midwives must be provided with adequate training, support and remuneration.
鈥淲hen you invest in midwives you save the lives of women, babies and children,鈥 she concluded.
Ms Souvenir Mutesi, speaking for the Rwanda Sisterhood Association, spoke about the Mama Pack project in Rwanda which provides a basic survival pack to birthing mothers who are not able to afford or access medical care.