Thirty years since the adoption of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, significant progress has been made on advancing sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice globally. But by too many markers, we have a long road ahead in the pursuit of health and rights for all. This is especially evident when we look at the experiences of women and girls of African descent. No matter where they are in the world, Black women are bearing the burden of maternal morbidity and mortality.
The statistics tell the story: Women and girls of African descent across the Americas are more likely to die when giving birth when compared to non-Afrodescendent and non-Indigenous women; in the United States, the rate is nearly three times higher than the national average. A woman in Africa who experiences pregnancy and childbirth complications is around 130 times more likely to die from them than a woman in Europe and Northern America. In the U.S., maternal deaths among African-American college graduates are 1.6 times higher than among white women with less than a high school diploma.
The Pact for the Future has the potential to bring renewed energy in our efforts to leave no one behind. At the Summit of the Future, amid the interactive dialogue “Transforming Global Governance: Turbocharging the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” UNFPA, PAHO and the Universal Access Project at the United Nations Foundation are launching a groundbreaking multi-stakeholder coalition – the Global Coalition for Transnational Solidarity and Action to Bridge the Gap in Maternal Health for Women and Girls of African Descent – to drive urgent action on the structural inequalities that imperil the health and well-being of women and girls of African descent in all their diversity.
This launch event builds upon the recommendations from stakeholder dialogues of the ICPD30 and the third session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent.
You can see the event via livestream here:
For more information and to join the coalition, contact us at bgmhc@unfpa.org.
