Action of the Month
February: Global Call to Your Politician and Local Leader:
Make your voice heard ahead of this International Women's Day (8th March)
As International Women's Day 8th March 2012 approaches, let's make sure that throughout February and March our politicians hear our voices, join our movement, and push our governments to deliver on their commitments. Together we are strong and together we make change happen.
Take Action!
Wherever you are in our 155 member countries, your politicians and local leaders need to hear from you! The purpose of February’s Action of the Month is to encourage political leaders worldwide to issue public statements about what they are doing to improve maternal and newborn health in their constituencies.
Step 1) Get informed:
- Has your government made a commitment to the UN Global Strategy: Every Woman Every Child? If they have, find out what progress has been made to date. If they have not, ask that the politician or leader to raise this issue with the government.
- Do you know the maternal mortality rate in your country? Find out here. How many of these deaths occur in your leader’s constituency? Many members say that their politicians simply don’t know.
Step 2) Engage your representatives:
- Schedule a meeting
- Send them a letter (download a sample letter here)
- Write an open letter and work with the media to have it published or publish your open letter as a blog
- Contact your representative on Facebook or Twitter
- Ask them to join the White Ribbon Alliance
Step 3) Share your results:
- Send WRA any public statements issued by your political or local leader. Please include a photo wherever possible. These will be published on the WRA Blog throughout the month. Email: takeaction@whiteribbonalliance.org.
- Share your results, letters or blogs with WRA. Email takeaction@whiteribbonalliance.org to let us know what you have done to take action.
January: Respectful Maternity Care: Every Childbearing Woman's Right
RESPECTFUL MATERNITY CARE: EVERY CHILDBEARING WOMAN'S RIGHT
In every country and community worldwide, pregnancy and childbirth are momentous events in the lives of women and families and represent a time of intense vulnerability. Imagine the personal treatment you would expect from a maternity care provider entrusted to help you or a woman you love give birth. Naturally, we envision a relationship characterized by caring, empathy, support, trust, confidence, and empowerment, as well as gentle, respectful, and effective communication to enable informed decision making.
Unfortunately, too many women experience care that does not match this image. Pregnant women seeking maternity care instead too often receive ill treatment that ranges from relatively subtle disrespect of their autonomy and dignity to outright abuse: physical assault, verbal insults, discrimination, abandonment, or detention in facilities for failure to pay. Disrespect and abuse of women during maternity care is a problem that has been obscured by a "veil of silence".
NO MORE.
Through the USAID Health Policy Project, partners from the research, educational, clinical, human rights, and global and national advocacy communities are working collaboratively to establish a growing community of concern determined to address the issue of disrespect and abuse during maternity care. This month we are pleased to launch the RESPECTFUL MATERNITY CARE CHARTER: THE UNIVERSAL RIGHTS OF CHILDBEARING WOMEN and new advocacy materials, based on this rights framework, that convey the message RESPECTFUL MATERNITY CARE is every woman's right.
Now we are calling on you to join us by learning more and engaging your communities to speak out and break the silence.
WOMEN'S EXPERIENCES
(from Case Reports:)
"When a woman goes into the second stage of delivery, you don't want her to close her legs, so you're beating her." Kenya1
"One nurse told me: 'Lady, can't you see that you are in the way? Go over there, you aren't anything but an animal and talking to you is like talking to an animal" Dominican Republic2
"Providing explanations to less educated women (is) a not a good use of time as 'they just can't understand'" South Africa3
Another woman was slapped on the face after delivering on the floor. She had been told to fetch a sheet ("I'll slap you if you deliver on that sheet without a plastic cover") … After the delivery she was told "clean up your mess!" South Africa4
"Her husband… said that after the birth she was distressed and struggling to breathe, but that staff dismissed their requests for help. 'Her last words to me were, 'Andre, I'm afraid.'" USA5
"I know all about this, you don't know anything, so just let me take care of it." And with that it was like I lost possession of my own body." Canada6
"We have no right to ask questions. I did ask the doctor, 'how many stitches did I have'. He said in an aggressive manner, 'why do you want to know?' and left. Is this not my right even to know how many stitches I had?" Egypt7
TAKE ACTION!
Find out, Speak out!
- Build awareness:
- Host a discussion with friends, colleagues or community members about respectful maternity care. Download this PowerPoint for discussion.
- Break the silence:
- How respectful was your maternity care experience? Share your story as a receiver or provider of maternity care or ask your mother, sister, wife, or daughter to tell you about her experiences. Please submit these stories to: takeaction@whiteribbonalliance.org so we can share your stories as part of future advocacy materials and on the Respectful Maternity Care website. Stories can be kept anonymous upon request.
- What does RESPECTFUL MATERNITY CARE look like? Get creative and share your vision of RMC in any medium (painting, photography, video, poetry, collage, drawing) . Please submit to: takeaction@whiteribbonalliance.org
We will continue to accept stories and artwork throughout the year so submissions after January are welcome!
Join Us: Help ensure that every woman’s right to respectful maternity care is upheld.
RESOURCES
Safe motherhood is more than the prevention of death and disability: It is respect for every woman’s humanity, feelings, choices and preferences.
December: Play Your Part: 2011 Achievements & 2012 Resolutions
The month of December is the time to reflect, celebrate achievements and look forward to the New Year. During WRA’s online Annual General Meeting last month, we asked participants to answer two questions: What are your achievements in advancing safe motherhood in 2011? And, how will you (or your organization) play your part to advance safe motherhood in 2012?
We have compiled the responses and included achievements from various news items we received throughout the year, but we know that there are more success stories out there. We want to hear from you, share your responses and hold each other accountable to our commitments in 2012. Follow the links below to learn more about how the alliance has increased commitments to maternal and newborn health, mobilized new partners and champions to strengthen the alliance and is working to hold governments, donors and all stakeholders to accountable to commitments that have been made.
Your responses will be shared on the WRA Achievements and Resolutions web pages.
Celebrate the Achievements of 2011
Take Action: Share your success stories &
make a resolution for 2012
Share your successes and your hopes for the New Year so that we can celebrate your achievements and inspire others to action! Download the form here and email it (along with any relevant, captioned photos and videos to: takeaction@whiteribbonalliance.org). Those who submit success stories will be recognized by the board of the WRA and success stories and commitments for the New Year will be featured on the WRA website throughout the month.
Download the "Achievements and Resolutions" form
November: Target Tuberculosis
This November the White Ribbon Alliance is teaming up with Target TB to raise awareness about the impact of TB on maternal and child health and to encourage advocates to take action.
Last month at the Every Women, Every Child event timed to coincide with the UN General Assembly, Dr Lucica Ditiu, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership called for greater attention to TB.
"Tuberculosis is somehow forgotten, but incredible in its global spread," said Dr Ditiu. "Speaking in terms of MDG 4 and 5, if we do not act against it now, more than three million women and one million children will die, and millions more children will be left orphaned” by 2015.
The Facts
|
TB causes more deaths among women than all causes of maternal mortality combined. Annually 3.6 million women develop TB and approximately 700,000 die as a result (including 200,000 with HIV).
Once infected with TB, women of reproductive age are more susceptible to developing TB disease than men of the same age. TB is the third leading cause of death worldwide among women of reproductive age. It can cause infertility and contributes to other poor reproductive health outcomes, particularly for those with HIV infection. (Untreated) TB positive women are twice as likely to give birth to a premature or low birth weight baby. (Untreated) TB positive women are four times more likely to die during childbirth (read Target TB’s briefing paper on maternal health and TB).
HIV infected pregnant women are at even greater risk. Those co-infected with TB are 2.5 times more likely to transmit HIV to their babies and infants of HIV infected pregnant women are 24 times more likely to have neonatal TB.
TB and Maternal & Child Health: Real Life Stories
|
What can be done?
|
Despite the fact that TB is a preventable and curable infection, hundreds of thousands of women and children in the developing world are becoming ill and dying needlessly.
Pregnant women need to have access to relevant information so that they understand the risks associated with TB during pregnancy and childbirth. Women must also have access to TB and HIV screening services, particularly in high prevalence, resource limited settings.
Programmes should be implemented to reduce stigma and discrimination so that women can access necessary services comfortably.
Early diagnosis and treatment is crucial to tackling the disease which means taking advantage of new, more efficient diagnostic tools that will help reduce waiting times and multiple visits. This is crucial for retaining women in the health system and for their successful treatment.
What can you do?
The World Health Organization recommends the integration of TB/HIV screening into antenatal services as a way of improving maternal and child health outcomes. Take action to highlight the need for TB screening in pregnant women the following ways:
1) Highlight the need for TB screening for pregnant women in your programmes, in your communities and with key government officials. Click here to learn where Target TB is currently working and contact Target TB to find out how they can help you implement screening services in your community.
2) Share your experiences and stories so they can be used for future advocacy efforts. We want to hear from you about your experiences, what is working and what more can be done to raise awareness and build support within communities, health facilities and with policy makers. Please email your stories to takeaction@whiteribbonalliance.org. Be sure to include your name, country, and organization (if applicable).
3) Start planning for World TB Day in March 2012 – there are various ways you can raise awareness in your own organisations and in your communities through online campaigns, and special events. Click here to access materials from the Stop TB Partnership on how to plan your own World TB Day event.
Women and Tuberculosis: Taking a Look at a Neglected Issue
Source: ACTION (Advocacy to Control TB Internationally)
Women and Tuberculosis (2009)
Source: World Health Organization
TB and Children Fact Sheet
Source: World Health Organization
Call to Action for Childhood TB
Stop TB Partnership
Maternal Health and TB Quiz (Word Document version)
