Petition to the African Union on Preventable Maternal Mortality and Morbidity in Africa
Dear Head of Government:
We welcome the African Union’s (AU) decision to focus on maternal health in Africa during the upcoming Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government (AU Assembly), to be held in Kampala from 25 to 27 July 2010.
 
Through its global “Demand Dignity” campaign for the rights of people living in poverty, Amnesty International focuses on the human rights violations that underlie the persistence of maternal mortality and morbidity. The vast majority of women who die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth experience are the poorest and most marginalised. They die because they cannot access adequate healthcare or make decisions about whether and when to become pregnant. In most cases, maternal deaths could be prevented. 
 
Amnesty International has carried out research on the human rights violations leading to maternal mortality and morbidity in Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso. In the two reports it has published, Amnesty underscored the barriers women face when accessing maternal healthcare – barriers which constitute violations of women’s human rights – and pointed out the lack of accountability for and monitoring of these human rights violations.
 
Despite several policies and initiatives adopted by the African Union to tackle this issue, there are gaps which continue to exist in the realisation of the commitments made by African States, and in light of the upcoming Summit, we urge you to give the elimination of preventable maternal death and ill-health the attention it deserves, notably by addressing the following points we believe to be crucial:
 
·         The need to combat discrimination and end harmful traditional practices that aggravate women’s risk of maternal mortality and morbidity
·         The need to improve access to sexual and reproductive health and rights for all African women
·         The need to address financial barriers to maternal healthcare for the poorest
·         The need to improve quality of maternal care to avoid preventable deaths
·         The need to reinforce accountability and monitoring to give people redress in case of violations
 
We believe the African Union can make a difference in respecting African women’s right to health and in reducing maternal mortality and morbidity in Africa. We count on you!




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