Brief Update January 7, 2009

Well, it has been 6 weeks, so I guess I can consider updating the blog!

With the Christmas cards we made and sold, we raised enough money to pay for the training of three and a half birth attendants (my husband and I put in the other half as part of our Christmas present).  So hopefully there will be four more birth attendants out there in South-East Asia.  I know that it is a drop in the ocean – but what other way is there for little me to approach anything?  If everyone did a drop it would be raining, then pouring…

There has also been more information from Women Deliver which you can check out if you wish, especially a new list of conferences for the beginning of this year.

I hope that you all had a good festive season and that you have a good new year.

‘Maternal Mortality is out of control’ November 28, 2008

“Maternal mortality is out-of-control and still climbing” in PNG, our close neighbour, according to a study which was recently released by Charles Darwin University. Professor Lesley Barclay states that PNG is one of the few countries where the numbers of women who die in or because of childbirth are increasing.

Read about it here.

Plus, another good article from an obstetrician in Somalia here; she outlines many of the problems that continue to contribute to a high rate of maternal mortality and disability on Africa.

and too many babies… November 24, 2008

This is a sad story from the Guardian, telling how in some ares in India (where a dowry is a heavy financial burden) the birth ratio of girls to boys can be as low as 798:1000. Of course, the mothers often die too, under illegal and sometimes forced abortions.
I wonder what people would do if there were no girl babies any more?  I guess at least there wouldn’t be anyone to do such violence to…

If you want more information about female infanticide you can find it here. I note that again issues of gender equality and maternal and child health are directly related to women who captured and held in sexual slavery.

the money-Making cards are going ahead… November 20, 2008

I’ve just put in our order for handmade recyled paper and cardboard from a co-operative in Nepal.  The co-operative provides women and girls with opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise have – you can check them out here at Planetwisepaper – as you know, giving women the opportunity for economic independance and eductaion is vital to their health and wellbeing and therefore can lead to better birthcare…  Yay for Millenium Development Goals 4, 5 and 6!  So, we’ll be all set to make the cards when we get together on the 30th of November.

The cards should cost about 50 – 70 cents to make (the postage for the only recycled C6 envelopes I could find is propping that cost up a bit, ouch)  and I hope to sell them for three to four dollars each.  I still have to get some more things, like silver pens (which I’m sure aren’t anything-friendly) and maybe some punches or stamps.   I’m not sure who is going to sell them where, or when, or how - but I’m hoping that some of my friends will have some ideas and enthusiasm for it.  Maybe the local markets… and I’m going to buy some myself; I need a good raft of Christmas cards this year.

That reminds me, I need to order some info and posters from Tear and Micah about maternal health and mortality.  Not long now…

Not all the news is bad… November 11, 2008

Yay for IAM Afganistan and their BLiSS – Birth and Life Saving Skills – courses (especially after the last article linked to).  Check out the good news story here!

Also, looks like my friends and I will be making cards to sell to raise money to pay for some birth attendant training and birthing kits.  Even though I’m still flatlining, my friends are enthusiastic, and they’ve set a date…

Worth reading… November 9, 2008

is this article from here, ‘Afganistan’s dying mothers.’

Very sad, but highlighting the complex issues involved in trying to give women (and children) access to some reasonable standard of birthcare.

If anyone is interested on what is being done to help, Hagar International is the organisation I know of that is active in working for the welfare of women and children in Afganistan… The representative for Hagar Afganistan writes a great blog which you can find here.

It is absolutely right that neglecting, or refusing, to give women proper care during childbith, is to do violence to them.  I agree with the author: the health of women in giving birth in Afganistan and in other places should come to be of the utmost global importance.

We MUST, we must… we must make the world change…

November 9, 2008

Happy birthday to me!

Obama’s policy on the Millenium Development Goals November 6, 2008

Here is the Obama/Biden policy on the MDG’s (remember, Maternal Health is goal no. 5, Gender Equality is goal no. 3 and Child Health is goal no. 4):

Fight Poverty: Obama and Joe Biden will double our annual investment in foreign assistance from $25 billion in 2008 to $50 billion by the end of his first term and make the Millennium Development Goals, which aim to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015, America’s goals. They will fully fund debt cancellation for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries in order to provide sustainable debt relief and invest at least $50 billion by 2013 for the global fight against HIV/AIDS, including our fair share of the Global Fund.

Hopefully, the new government of the US will continue the good work that America has done in Africa re. HIV/Aids …pref. without continuing the not-so-good work that they’ve been better known for…

You can find the full Obama/Biden policy on Foreign Affairs here.

Also, don’t forget there is a lot of great info re. maternal health available from the Women Deliver blog, Daily Delivery.  Something they have linked which looked especially good was this BBC documentary, Fit for Life – though I’ll have to wait for my exams to be finished before I check it out…

Conferences October 31, 2008

The October Bulletin from Deliver for Youth (D4Y) came out today.  It listed a lot of interesting events (I’ve included the conferences relating to maternal health below).

Rights and Realities, In Promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, November 10-11, 2008
Organized by the World Population Foundation and Youth Incentives, this two-day conference will highlight the challenges of a rights-based approach to sexual and reproductive health and identify strategies in how to address them. The conference is open to policymakers, programme officers, field staff, NGO representatives, and youth organizations working on reproductive and sexual health issues. For more information, click here.

Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) Regional Consultation Meeting (RCM), Cape Town, South Africa, November 11-13, 2008
This meeting, held in conjunction with the AWID meeting (see below), aims to strengthen the relationships between WGNRR members in Africa and other regions. The goal is to use these connections to bring reproductive and sexual health and rights to the forefront of the global development agenda, especially with regards to women and conflict. For more information on this meeting, click here.

The AWID International Forum on Women’s Rights and Development: The Power of Movements, Cape Town, South Africa, November 14-17, 2008
Organized by the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), the forum brings together women’s rights leaders and activists from around the world to strategize, network, celebrate, and learn in an atmosphere that fosters deep discussions and sustained personal and professional growth.  The Forum is open to anyone who works in women’s rights, international development, and social justice.  To register and for more information, click here.

The punchline: October 28, 2008

Yesterday I posted about a landmark slave case in Niger – well, today the good news is through.  The court of Niger found that the government of Niger had failed to protect Hadijatou Mani (and others) from slavery, which is hereditary in Niger, and awarded her damages.  Hooray!!  Check out the full Guardian article here.

In one sentence, here, from the New York Times: “The landmark ruling ordered the government of Niger to pay about $19,000 in damages to a young woman who was sold into slavery at the age of 12.”