Thaindian News

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called for concentrated efforts to end women dying in childbirth.

Ki-moon the situation described as a “scandal,” saying even simple clinical procedures such as clean delivery rooms and the presence of a trained midwife could greatly reduce pregnancy-related deaths.

“Some simple blood tests, consultation with a doctor and qualified help at the birth itself can make a huge difference,” Ban said. “Add some basic antibiotics, blood transfusions and a safe operating room, and the risk of death can almost be eliminated,” he told delegates attending the gathering known as the “Women Deliver” conference, which is a three-day conference in the Washington, D.C., and is the largest-ever gathering on maternal health, drawing 3,500 participants from 140 countries.

Ban said women’s health in the developed world had come a long way in his lifetime, noting that he was himself born at home in the Korean countryside and not in a hospital.

“There was nothing strange or special about that fact,” he said. “I remember as a child asking my mother why women who were about to give birth would gaze at their simple rubber shoes, which they left at the back door as labor drew near.”

“My mother explained that the women wondered if they would ever step into those shoes again. Giving birth was so risky. They feared for their lives,” he continued. “Her answer started me on the journey that has brought me here today. A journey to help every woman step back into her shoes after giving birth,” he added, as he explained that women are the “glue that holds our societies and our nations together.” They make “the world work.”

Ban mentioned that there is currently a global movement for an end to the “silent scandal” of women dying in childbirth, “no woman should have to pay with her life, for giving life,” he underlined.

The United Nations (UN) is committed to helping governments deliver for mothers and children, and the new UN Joint Action Plan aims to accelerate progress on women’s and children’s health to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the global anti-poverty targets world leaders have pledged to achieve by 2015.

“This plan calls for every part of the world’s health infrastructure to work together, towards one goal. Governments and health services in developed and developing countries alike, international organizations, businesses and private foundations, non-governmental organizations and civil society,” Ban said.

“Invest in women – it pays. This is one of the best investments we can make for this and future generations. Working together, we aim to make 2010 a turning point for women’s health,” he added, stressing that women cannot succeed without the end of gender discrimination of all kinds.

“First, we are working to combat the worldwide epidemic of violence against women. Women can never fulfil their potential or participate fully in society when they live in fear… Fear of rape as a weapon of war… Fear of domestic violence… Fear of being trafficked for sex,” Ban said. “I have launched a global campaign aimed at raising awareness. Wherever I travel, I tell leaders that this is a matter of moral leadership… a matter of political will. All of us must see it as our business to put an end to these practices,” he added.

“Since I became Secretary-General, the number of women in the top posts at the UN has increased dramatically. Many of these are the first women appointees to positions that have been held by men for the past six decades. And let me tell you, it does make a difference. Women more than hold up their half of the sky the world over. The United Nations should be no exception. Indeed we must lead,” the Secretary-General concluded.