By IRNA,
Tehran : The United Nations chief has recently launched a Joint Plan of Action to accelerate progress on safe motherhood calling for 2010 to be a turning point for women’s health, it was reported Sunday.
According to a press release issued by the UN Information Center (UNIC) in Tehran, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made the call as the maternal mortality rates in Africa were among the highest in the world.
UNIC quoted the UN Deputy Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro as saying that the international body voiced readiness to work with African leaders to improve health services in the continent.
Migiro made the remarks in a statement published on the verge of the African Union Summit which is to be held this week.
The deputy secretary general regretted that despite all efforts made in Africa by the UN and its affiliated bodies including the UN Children Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), progress in reaching the Millennium Development Goal of drastically reducing maternal mortality rates “has been abysmally slow.”
Referring to many cases of pregnancy complications in Africa, Migiro hoped that the upcoming summit would be a chance to transform the fear of pregnancy in Africa in to hope.
“The news of a pregnancy should ideally be met with joy – but all too often there is justifiable fear. The African Union Summit this week, set to focus on the health of mothers and children, has a chance to transform this fear into hope,” Migiro said.
She added that African leaders were, fortunately, squarely facing the issue. The scale and seriousness of the problem demand no less. And it is especially fitting that the AU Summit 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, said the deputy secretary general.
“Africa’s 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 children’s 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,” Migiro added.
She said, by taking a strong stance backed by concrete pledges of funds, the Summit could unleash a wave of progress within countries, across the region and around the world.
According to Migiro, conflicts, poverty and other blights that are causing so many girls and women to suffer were among many other issues which naturally required the Summit’s attention.
“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,” said the official.