Proposition 52K1168

Proposition de résolution relative à la mortalité maternelle.

General information ¶

Authors

CD&V Lieve Van Daele
Ecolo Thérèse Snoy et d'Oppuers
Groen Wouter De Vriendt
LE Georges Dallemagne
LDD Martine De Maght
MR Xavier Baeselen
Open Vld Hilde Vautmans
PS | SP Karine Lalieux
Vooruit Maya Detiège

Submission date

May 15, 2008

Official page

Visit

Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

resolution of parliament development policy development aid position of women women's rights

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld N-VA LDD MR FN VB

Party dissidents ¶

• Hans Bonte (Vooruit) abstained from voting.

Contact form ¶

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Discussion ¶

July 10, 2008 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, I was asked to give an oral report on the work of the last Tuesday in the Committee on Foreign Relations on the proposal for a resolution on maternal mortality.

As the Chairman has already said, this proposal was signed by colleagues Vautmans, Detiège, Van Daele, De Vriendt, Dallemagne, Snoy, Baeselen, Lalieux and De Maght.

As part of the general discussion, Ms. Vautmans wanted to draw attention to the global problem. Every minute, somewhere in the world, a woman dies as a result of pregnancy or childbirth. This is about half a million women per year, 99 percent of which are in developing countries. Mr. De Croo points out that Parliament should not become a resolution parliament and that the instrument should be used with moderation, to which Ms. Vautmans replicates that the resolution can be an important instrument in this issue. For example, our government is obliged to include the recommendations in its policy letters. It also refers to the policy letter on sexual and reproductive rights, which advocates a multidimensional approach in the broad context of public health in the context of human rights. Mr De Croo agrees with this and also points out that the content of this resolution is best taken into account in the revision of the 1999 Law on Development Cooperation, which is currently in the House and Senate.

The resolution was approved unanimously by the members present.

Mrs Muylle, I thank you for your report. There are three speakers registered in the general discussion. Ms Vautmans has the word.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, dear colleagues, this resolution calls for attention to maternal mortality. This attention is very much needed, especially in the south. That also proves, it stood today in The Morning, the call made by 30 famous women, including Yoko Ono and Claudia Schiffer, to the wives and a husband of the people at the G8 summit. They asked those wives and a husband, Angela Merkel, to ask their partners to take action.

This action is necessary because maternal mortality is the most neglected of the eight Millennium Goals. Less than a quarter of the 68 risky countries will meet the target by 2015. In Africa, colleagues, one woman in 16 dies from the consequences of her pregnancy.

There are 16 mothers in this hemisphere. If we would think that one of those 16 would die at birth, then that is a hallucinating thought. If the hemisphere is full, then we could do that exercise here.

As Ms. Muylle, as a rapporteur, for which I thank you, has already said: Every minute, somewhere in the world, a woman dies during her childbirth. Every minute, somewhere in the world, a child loses his mother.

We cannot patiently observe how unsafe abortions and teenage pregnancies increase these numbers every year. We, as Members of Parliament, have already taken several actions within the framework of the Millennium Goals, in order to draw attention to this problem. You probably still remember that on May 8th, a few days before Mother’s Day, we set up bears in the peristile, on which female parliamentarians and ministers took place. Several male colleagues, including Herman De Croo, also showed solidarity.

The evening before Mother’s Day, colleagues, we celebrated Mother’s Night in Gent. There were African performances and we have heard very fascinating texts, from among others Walter Zinzen and Kris Smet. Through these actions, we have brought attention to maternal mortality. It is now up to us, dear friends, to the Parliament, to take action. Therefore, in this resolution, we call for additional measures to support our partner countries in their fight against maternal mortality. We ask for long-term financial support, help in preparing action plans for basic health care and support to organize universal access to sexual and reproductive health.

Dear friends, I hope that we will soon, as in the committee, be able to unanimously adopt this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues, I will be very concise and will not fall into repetition.

I just want to say that our group fully supports this resolution. Mother and child health care is always on the top of the agenda. The accessibility and affordability of health care, especially for the most vulnerable, is also a constant concern for us. This concern, of course, does not stop at its own borders because the fundamental human rights are universal.

As Ms. Vautmans has already said, the UN Interim Report on the Progress of the Millennium Goals has especially bad news regarding the progress of health care for women and mothers. Unfortunately, the figures that have just been mentioned are and remain shocking and hallucinating. Therefore, additional efforts need to be made and in this resolution we call for a clear focus on the Millennium Goals and the sexual and reproductive rights of women.

The right to life, ladies and gentlemen, is ⁇ the most fundamental human right. The easily avoidable mortality of so many young women requires that all forces, party and cross-border, be united. For this reason, our group fully supports the eight questions of the resolution addressed to the federal government. These questions are closely linked to our Programme on Policy and Financing for Development Cooperation, which also clearly aims to focus on gender equality.

First of all, I would like to thank the Chair of our committee, Mrs Vautmans, for putting this issue on the agenda of our committee.

This is obviously an important and worrying issue. The idea that a woman could risk her life by giving birth is shocking. We tend to forget this kind of risk because, in Belgium, there is virtually no more maternal mortality. The number of deaths can be counted on the fingers of one hand. However, as Ms. Vautmans recalled, in some countries, mortality is 900 per 100,000. This means that in countries where women sometimes have up to seven children, one in sixteen women dies in childbirth.

As a doctor, I unfortunately had the opportunity to witness the deaths of women in childbirth. This is a traumatic and absolutely unacceptable event. Fighting against this kind of accident is extremely important.

I think in particular of young girls who, in some countries, are married very young and are not physiologically ready to bring a child into the world. The risks they face when giving birth are increased due to their young age. This is a particular concern. And in this context, the development of contraception is obviously very important.

I also think of all those women who are raped, especially in war-torn countries or in eastern Congo; when they are pregnant and must give birth, they suffer from particular trauma, psychological and physical, such as vesicovaginal fistules. It is important, in my opinion, to grant these women the right to interrupt their pregnancy if necessary.

All countries interested in gender equality and development cooperation must ensure that this Millennium Goal can be reached quickly. This is a priority!