AmnestyISOnline is also holding an online event celebrating International Women's Day. Recently the sent me a message to my shoutbox at BloggersUnite:
"Thanks for joining AI-IS's IWD Event. Around March 8th AI's campaign Demand Dignity will launch a blog space. You are invited to blog on: 'Maternal Mortality; Women in Slum; Poverty and Women; MNC operations and its' affect on women.The other post I did on International Women's Day International Women's Day and Millennium Development Goal 3 Perfect Match looked at both domestic and international efforts to empower women and girls. This post will look at one of the reasons why this is needed and that is the lack of maternal health.
Help us make IWD 2010 memorable! We will be checking in with you soon with updates and ways you can contribute on DD Blog. Please write online.communities@amnesty.org to know more. Until then, take action http://bit.ly/cwQXyb in supports of women's rights.
Sameer Dossani, the Director of Demand Dignity Campaign Amnesty International USA provided the story of Safiatou' tragic and needless lose of life which is only an example of what is repeated constantly around the world.
Information and transportation might have saved Safiatou's life But she was poor and pregnant in Burkina Faso, which put her life at risk. She had no prenatal care and suffered from anemia, didn't even know that iron supplements were important or that the local clinic gave the pills to pregnant women free of charge. Safiatou gave birth at home without the help of a trained birth attendant. After her delivery she hemorrhaged badly and required emergency care. With no way to get to the health center, her husband borrowed a motorcycle, but it had no fuel. He had to push the motorcycle 10 km to get gas. Safiatou died on the back of the motorcycle before she even got to the health center.
Safiatou's death was preventable and a violation of her human rights.Their new report, Giving Life, Risking Death - Maternal Mortality in Burkina Faso1, exposes the persistent, harsh reality faced by Burkinabe women like Safiatou. Its findings fuel our calls on the government to make immediate changes to ensure the rights of women.
Amnesty International is calling for the government of Burkina Faso to:
- allocate care equitably, prioritizing the poorest regions with the worst rates of maternal death
- lift the obstacles – including financial, geographic and quality barriers – that block poor, rural women from accessing life-saving obstetric care
My take on the story is not however just to repeat what was said (though truth is I actually do that a lot with this blog). It is to first to show that efforts like this do make a difference.
UPI.com reports that the African nation Burkina Faso pledges more maternity aid.
When world leaders gather at the United Nations for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Review Summit in September, the voices of their citizens will follow them, telling them, loudly and clearly: “We will no longer stay seated or silent in the face of poverty and the broken promises to end it!’
UPI.com reports that the African nation Burkina Faso pledges more maternity aid.
The head of the West African nation of Burkina Faso will do more to help pregnant women receive adequate maternity care, Amnesty International says.
The London-based human rights group announced Friday President Blaise Compaore has agreed to lift financial barriers that prevent women in his country from receiving emergency obstetric care and access to family planning.
This doesn't mean that the work is over just that progress can me made but more can be done.
It is also to again tie it to the Millennium Development Goals which provides the widest collaborative umbrella under which to meet this challenge. In fact this issue can be addressed by three of the Millennium Development Goals 3. Gender Equity 4. Child Health and 5. Maternal Health and multiple countries and regions.
The "PiGA DEBE FOR WOMEN’S RiGHTS" report from the African Campaign presents a review of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with particular attention being paid to gender equality, women’s empowerment and commitment to improving maternal health in 17 African countries namely: Burkina Faso, Congo DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.The meaning of “PIGA DEBE” in Kiswahili is “make a big noise,” and draws its inspiration from millions of women’s voices in Africa who say “enough is enough. More people need to make noise about these issue and they can get their chance to make a difference on September 17 and 18, 2010 when the entire world will be Standing Up, taking Action, & Making a Noise for the MDGs!
When world leaders gather at the United Nations for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Review Summit in September, the voices of their citizens will follow them, telling them, loudly and clearly: “We will no longer stay seated or silent in the face of poverty and the broken promises to end it!’
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