The Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI), the International Dalit Solidarity Network, the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID), Frontline AIDS, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), Women Deliver, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), The Center for Reproductive Rights and ILGA invite you to:
Addressing Preventable Maternal Mortality and Morbidity: An Intersectional and Systems-Based Approach
58th session of the UN Human Rights Council
Why is a human rights-based approach necessary to prevent and eliminate maternal mortality and morbidity? How do we deal with structural and systemic discrimination in policy and programming?
Join this discussion that will highlight why strengthening health systems, removing barriers to accessing health care and ensuring sexual and reproductive health and rights is necessary to improve women and girls’ health.
Maternal mortality and morbidity remain critical global health challenges, with an estimated 287,000 maternal deaths occurring annually, the majority of which are preventable. Last September, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution A/HRC/RES/54/16 “Preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights” which urged States to eliminate preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, to ensure equitable coverage and timely access to health services, and, among other things, to address the underlying determinants of health, such as gender, racial and caste discrimination and socioeconomic factors.
Resolution 54/16 also requests an update of the technical guidance on applying a human rights-based approach to the elimination of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, launched by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2012, which serves as a crucial tool for advancing global efforts to improve maternal health.
Structural inequalities and inequities, such as systemic racism, casteism, gender discrimination, and socio-economic disparities, exacerbate the rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, disproportionately impacting marginalized populations. For example, women of African descent and Indigenous women in the Americas face higher risks of maternal mortality and morbidity due to discriminatory practices, limited access to quality care, and socio-economic barriers. An intersectional approach is critical for tailoring effective responses to maternal mortality and morbidity as it acknowledges and addresses the complex interplay of multiple factors that contribute to such public health challenges. Additionally, a systems-based approach to health—emphasizing strengthened healthcare infrastructure, equitable access to quality services, cross-sector collaboration, community engagement, and accountability mechanisms—is vital and it is a precondition for ensuring that individual sectors will deliver quality goods and services to all. This approach ensures that health is treated as one piece of a larger mosaic instead of as a stand-alone right fractured away from other entitlements that determine people’s ability to live decent lives.
For example, in the United States, recent data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows significant disparities in maternal health for Black women. In 2021, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, nearly three times the rate for white women. Also, Black women in the US are approximately three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. And the disparities persist across income and education levels as well. In California, for example, the wealthiest Black women face higher maternal mortality risks than the least wealthy white women.
Another example of the importance of having a systems approach to health is related to International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan conditionalities, particularly its structural adjustment programs (SAPs). These programs often mandate austerity measures, including reductions in public spending on healthcare and the privatization of health services, which can erode the accessibility and quality of care. A cross-national analysis found that Sub-Saharan African countries implementing SAPs experienced higher maternal mortality rates compared to those not under such programs1.
Applying a human rights-based approach to preventing and eliminating maternal mortality and morbidity, should necessarily then take into account the structural and systemic contexts, the state of health systems and the programming on women's and girls' health including sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Monday, 3 March 2025, 13:00 to 14:00 CET
PANELISTS
- Rajat Khosla, Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH)
- Nomtika Mjwana, Frontline AIDS
- Emeline Dupuis, Sexual Rights Initiative
MODERATOR
- Umyra Ahmad, Association for Women In Development (AWID)
This side event will be held in english.
Room XXV Palais des Nations
1 Pandolfelli, Lauren E., et al. “The International Monetary Fund, Structural Adjustment, and Women’s Health: a Cross-National Analysis of Maternal Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa.” The Sociological Quarterly, vol. 55, no. 1, 2014.