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Credit: UN
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Pregnant
with Possibility
BY
ASHA-ROSE MIGIRO
NEW
YORK (IDN) - The news of a pregnancy should ideally be met with joy --
but all too often there is justifiable fear. The African Union Summit,
set to focus on the health of mothers and children, has a chance to
transform this fear into hope.
(The Summit concluded on July 27, 2010.) Asha-Rose Migiro
Ten years into the Millennium Development Goals, we know what African
leaders have always appreciated: when you invest in mothers, whole
societies benefit, and when you care for children, you raise a new
generation of leaders.
This is not a theory; at the United Nations we see it happen in reality.
In Sudan, 16-year old Awatif Altayib lost her baby following two days of
difficult labour, and emerged from the ordeal herself injured with
obstetric fistula. Her future with this debilitating condition looked
bleak -- until she recovered with assistance from the UN Population Fund
(UNFPA) and its partners. Now Awatif is a working midwife, helping other
women to survive.
Southern Sierra Leone has one gynecologist serving an area home to two
and a half million people. That is why recently when Hawa Barrie
suffered complications in pregnancy, she and her family feared the
worst.
But the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) is working with the Government and
other partners to improve health services there. Thanks to these
efforts, Hawa survived, her newborn son received his shots, and both are
on their way to a healthy life.
Abiodun Titi of Nigeria is another thriving African mother. Although she
is HIV-positive, she was able to conceive with her HIV-negative husband
safely thanks to a method involving the female condom. With help from
the UN and its partners, she now teaches others this life-saving
approach.
Unfortunately, millions African women do not have the same
opportunities. Maternal mortality rates on the continent are among the
highest in the world. And progress in reaching the Millennium
Development Goal of drastically reducing these deaths has been abysmally
slow.
FACING THE ISSUE
Fortunately, African leaders are squarely facing the issue. The scale
and seriousness of the problem demand no less. And it is especially
fitting that the AU Summit (July 19-27, 2010) will focus on maternal and
child health. Africans place great cultural value on mothers – not
only those who give birth but all women, since in a meaningful social
sense all are helping to raise children.
The United Nations is ready to work with Africa to make good on its
proud traditions. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently launched a
Joint Action Plan to accelerate progress on safe motherhood, calling for
2010 to be a turning point for womens health.
Africas leaders must also do their part by pledging the resources we
need to honor past promises and open the way to a better future. We have
a blueprint in the Maputo Plan of Action on Sexual and Reproductive
Health and Rights, which has clear objectives and detailed cost
estimates for how to reach them. And as Africa leaders commit to doing
their part, so should their development partners.
The AU Summit should join its voice to the rising chorus of partners
supporting the Joint Action Plan. That means expanding national health
plans that put priority on women and childrens health. It requires
increasing the proportion of budget resources for this purpose.
Countries must commit to a full continuum of care, so that women are not
just seen when an emergency strikes, and so that clinics and caregivers
address all of their reproductive health needs, whether
pregnancy-related or not. And we must reach even the most remote and
poverty-stricken areas.
By taking a strong stance backed by concrete pledges of funds, the
Summit can unleash a wave of progress within countries, across the
region and around the world.
I know the value of a declaration from the continents leaders. During my
years as Tanzanias Minister for Community Development, Gender and
Children, I saw how a signal from the AU summit could serve as a
rallying point for our work countrywide, spur action throughout the
region and benefit the entire continent. And from my view at the United
Nations, I see how Africas bold actions can inspire other continents to
advance.
There will naturally be many other issues requiring the Summits
attention, including conflicts, poverty and other blights that are
causing so many girls and women to suffer. But by putting their health
at the top of the agenda, the Summit will do more than benefit
individual females -- it will set the stage for resolving these broader
problems and creating a better world for all.
[Source:
IDN-InDepthNews
| Analysis That Matters]
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Dr.
Asha-Rose Migiro from Tanzania is the Deputy Secretary-General of
the United Nations since February 1, 2007.
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