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Concord Times (Freetown)

Sierra Leone: Koroma Impressed by First Lady's Maternal Mortality Initiative

18 November 2008

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Freetown — President Ernest Bai Koroma yesterday showered praises on his wife, First Lady Sia Nyama Koroma, for her sustained campaign to reduce the deaths of women due to child-bearing-related circumstances during the launch of a two-day seminar focusing on the role of traditional and religious leaders in maternal mortality reduction.

"I want to associate myself with this laudable initiative of the First Lady in her efforts to enhance the life-chances of women and children of this country and to recognize the tremendous support she has been receiving from our development partner," the President said to a crowd of traditional dancers, chiefs, elders, diplomats, donors, and a cross-section of the public at the Bank of Sierra Leone Complex at Kingtom in Freetown. "Secondly, I am impressed by the novelty of involving our religious and traditional elders..." he added.

The Christian Council of Sierra Leone, the Supreme Islamic Council, and the Council of Chiefs of Sierra Leone all delivered goodwill messages. A representative of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) also made a statement emphasizing the need to take action in a coordinated manner: "My own Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, is personally concerned and uses every opportunity to draw attention to the appalling statistics - most recently at the High Level Forum on the MDGs in New York. His wife - Sarah Brown, our own 'First Lady' - has made the fight to reduce maternal mortality her personal interest, and her work around the world is bringing much-needed attention to this issue. This is something that clearly the UK and Sierra Leone have in common - the commitment of our First Ladies to draw attention to the appalling statistics of women dying giving birth. And not only to draw attention to the problem but to galvanise action," he maintained.

On his part, a special guest of honour, Dr Haliru Yahaya, the Emir of Shonga, Kwara State , Nigeria , who was invited to share the Nigerian experience with Sierra Leone , praised "religious tolerance at its best" in this country, while noting that both countries could learn from each other. He thanked the First Lady for the invitation: "It is not uncommon that in many African countries the First Lady is hardly seen, what more of being heard. I therefore commend Her Excellency for taking this great initiative by organizing this first forum for my colleagues, the traditional leaders...to discuss the issues on the reduction of maternal mortality and morbidity in this beautiful country, and particularly what they can do for women to attain full health and pass through pregnancy and childbirth with little or no problems and survive as the case should be."

The ERSG (UN) Representative, Gebremedhin Hagoss, first asked for a minute's silence to be observed for all the women "dying at this very moment", and commended the First Lady for her bold steps in the fight against maternal mortality. "This forum is taking place in a year that the UN marks its 60th anniversary of the universal declaration of human rights," he said, stating that women have a right to life before, during, and after pregnancy. He assured the UN's willingness to seek close cooperation and collaboration with international and national institutions, including the First lady's WISH initiative. However, he ended by saying that "It's not what the UN family, donors or even the government can do to reduce maternal mortality, but what the communities can do for themselves. The role of the traditional and religious leaders cannot be over-emphasized."

Keynote Address By H. E. Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma At the First Lady's Consultative Forum of Traditional and Religious Leaders on Maternal Mortality Reduction in sierra Leone

(Full text of the president's speech follows)

Salutations

I am extremely delighted to be here this morning to address this unique gathering of Traditional and Religious leaders on the issue of Maternal Mortality. Firstly, I want to associate myself with this laudable initiative of the First Lady in her efforts to enhance the life-chances of women and children of this country and to recognize the tremendous support she has been receiving from our development partners. Secondly, I am impressed by the novelty of involving our religious and traditional leaders in a consultative forum where various approaches are going to be explored for the reduction of maternal mortality in our local communities. We hope that the outcome of this consultative forum will have a profound impact not only on local communities, but on the nation as a whole.

Mr. Chairman, the high incidence of maternal mortality is of grave concern to every Sierra Leonean and to us as a Government. The statistics are grim. According to the 2007 Human Development Report, there are 1,800 deaths per every 100,000 live births in our country. This is unacceptable. Our perennial position at the bottom of the UN Human Development Index is largely as a result of our appalling record on maternal and infant mortality, and we cannot hope to move up the ladder unless we considerably reduce this level of mortality.

The continuous rating of our country as having the highest incidence of maternal mortality in the world is also an indictment on us as a people. It is an indication that we are not taking good care of our women and children and that we are losing an important component of our human capital. It is therefore incumbent on every Sierra Leonean to do every thing in his or her capacity to improve the situation. Our First Lady and her dedicated group of women have taken the lead. Let us support them.

It has been established that most of the deaths are due to life style choices or the decisions that people make at their local community levels. These may involve instances of domestic violence, cultural or traditional taboos, actions of untrained and unskilled birth attendants and general restrictions to access to healthcare facilities. Such deaths are avoidable and this consultative forum should assist us in finding solutions to some of these problems.

We as a Government have been concerned with the problem of the high infant and maternal mortality rates and have taken some significant steps to stem the tide. Our response is underpinned by the development of the Reproductive and Child Health Strategic Plan 2008-2010 which I launched at the very beginning of the year. The Plan focuses on the reduction of the 2005 infant and maternal mortality figures for Sierra Leone by 30% by the year 2010 but will also impact on the general wellbeing of children and women in the country as a whole.

The wealth of a nation is the health of its people. Health matters are therefore at the centre of human development which is concerned with improving the lives of the people and providing them the opportunity to develop themselves to the highest level of their potential. This cannot be achieved unless we enlarge their choices and expand the range of things they can do to improve their lives. If we truly want women to live longer and have healthier lives, if we want them to be more productive and helpful in the development of our country, then we must minimize the things that put them down.

It is in this light that we commend the Office of the First Lady for initiating action to reduce the incidence of maternal mortality in our country. The Office of the First Lady, working closely with her other charitable organizations (the Danke Koroma Foundation and the Women in Need Organisation), has developed the Women In Safer Health or WISH initiative to tackle head-on the incidence of maternal mortality in our local communities. WISH has developed a series of interventions designed to reduce the level of maternal mortality through advocacy, training, development of women's groups and building and equipping birthing homes.

With the involvement of Religious and Traditional Leaders in the campaign to reduce maternal mortality, WISH has broken new ground. It underscores the Organisation's desire to take healthcare delivery to the communities in which people live and to use structures that will best respond to the needs of the community. We are all aware of the influence that religious and traditional leaders still enjoy in traditional African societies in spite of the advances of modern trends. Working through them and their traditional structures will ensure that the message reaches right down to the family unit.

We appreciate the support that the UNFPA and the UN System are providing for this initiative under the single UN mandate of responding to the development objectives of Sierra Leone. The considerable experience which UNFPA has had in promoting the participation of religious and traditional leaders in mortality reduction through sponsorship in international conferences and symposia will be of great advantage. We are confident that the success that has been registered in other African countries through the involvement of religious and traditional leaders in mortality reduction will be replicated here.

Let me conclude my address by reiterating the significance of healthcare in the overall development of our country. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for Sierra Leone give a very high priority to health with no less than THREE goals concentrating on health issues. The Poverty Reduction Strategy which maps out the progress of our country for the next three years considers health as one of the determinants of progress in achieving our goals of reducing poverty. This priority on health therefore needs support from all of us - the Government, development partners, civil society, and third party actors. This way, we will be assured of achieving universal healthcare and better health outcomes for our people. I wish you every success in your deliberations.

I thank you.

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