THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL RECOGNISES MATERNAL MORTALITY AS A PRESSING HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERN

Governments commit to promoting women and girls health and rights17 June 2009, Geneva -- Today, the Human Rights Council at its eleventh regular session adopted a landmark resolution on 'Preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights'. In this resolution, governments express grave concern for the unacceptably high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, acknowledge that this is a human rights issue and commit to enhance their efforts at the national and international level to protect the lives of women and girls worldwide. Over 70 UN member states co-sponsored this resolution, led by Colombia and New Zealand."This is a groundbreaking step towards ensuring every woman's basic human right to a safe and healthy pregnancy and childbirth," said Ximena Andion, the International Advocacy Director at the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which was one the organizations promoting the resolution. "Governments should heed the call of the Human Rights Council and take urgent action to prevent women from dying needlessly in pregnancy and childbirth."Globally, maternal mortality is the leading cause of death among women and girls of reproductive age. More than 1500 women and girls die every day from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth; that translates to around 550,000 annually. While it is difficult to measure pregnancy-related injuries and disabilities, estimates vary from 16 to 50 million annually, and include conditions such as haemorrhage, infection, brain seizures, hypertension, anaemia and obstetric fistulae.Yet, it has taken fifteen years since the adoption of the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action, fourteen since the Fourth World Conference on Women Platform for Action, and nine since the Millennium Development Goals - all significant United Nations' consensus documents recognizing the need to increase efforts promoting the health and rights of women and girls - for the UN's main political human rights body to take this important step. Globally, governments have failed to meet the commitments made and targets set in these documents.
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