The Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Babatunde Ahonsi has said that Ghana does not need any other plan of action to help protect its pregnant women. He noted that what the country needs is to provide the resources required to implement existing maternal health programmes.
Dr. Ahonsi, who spoke on behalf of all the UN agencies, said this at the launch of the One UN Public Advocacy Campaign on Girls' Education and Maternal Health, as part of activities marking the 69thAnniversary of the United Nations. The event which was on the theme, 'Youth Engagement for Effective Nation Building' brought together staff, partners and friends of the United Nations in Ghana calling for an all-inclusiveness to help promote girls' education and maternal health in the country.
Speaking on the rationale for the maternal health campaign, he explained that Ghana will not meet the fifth goal of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), with an estimated 3,040 women dying annually during pregnancy and delivery. This leaves more work to be done at ensuring that the increasing numbers of mortality cases in pregnant women are reduced.
Promoting the theme for the campaign, “No Woman Should Die Giving Life”, Dr Ahonsi said the causes of maternal mortality are well known and this knowledge should be urgently acted upon by all relevant stakeholders especially government at all levels. He also stressed that men should be empowered to support their wives during, before and after pregnancy. He entreated families to communicate issues on sexual and reproductive health so as to empower women and young people to prevent unplanned pregnancies. He said, when girls are educated, they spend most of the time in school which delays marriage and subsequently delays early unhealthy pregnancies.
- A cross section of the media and women groups at the One UN advocacy campaign launch for girls education and maternal health
On the reason for the "One UN advocacy initiative," Mr. Girmay Haile the UNAIDS Country Director and the acting UN Resident Coordinator on the day of the launch said the 2015 deadline for countries to account for their stewardship in achieving the MDGs is near and Ghana needs to intensify efforts on areas where it is unlikely to meet the set targets.
Ghana has put in place several efforts including the implementation of the MDG5 Acceleration Framework, implementation of the AU initiative on the Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA) at the highest political level and public education on uptake of Family Planning among others to enable it attain the seventy-five percent target set for reducing maternal deaths. However, it is clear that Ghana is unlikely to achieve the said target.
The advocacy campaign is the brainchild of the United Nations Country Team made up of the heads of all 26 UN agencies in Ghana. Since the 1960s, the United Nations has partnered with individuals and organizations to ensure women and girls are empowered.
Present at the event were the media, religious leaders, queen mothers, representatives from the ministries of health, education, chieftaincy affairs and gender, children and social protection as well as relevant stakeholders and some members of the general public. The media were tasked to promote issues of girls’ education and maternal health in order to raise more awareness on the subject.
