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Mr. President,
On behalf of my delegation, Colombia, and the delegation of New Zealand I have the honour to present L16, rev 1 to the Human Rights Council. The resolution is entitled “Preventable Maternal Mortality and Morbidity and Human Rights”.
Every day, globally, 1500 women and girls die from complications associated with pregnancy and childbirth. Our delegations believe that this global rate is not acceptable. Given the scale of the issue, the Human Rights Council has a role to play in contributing to efforts to reduce this rate and to achieve the Millennium Development goal on maternal health.
States have committed to the goal of reducing the ratio of preventable maternal mortality by 75%. Globally, the rate has reduced by only 1%. Given the very real scenario that MDG5 may not be realised, we believe there is a need for renewed emphasis to achieve the goal on maternal health. Part of this renewed political commitment includes looking at the human rights obligations and dimensions relevant to strategies to reduce the number of deaths and disabilities.
Only two days ago, the Secretary-General of the UN called for a global response to face health challenges, underlining the global impact of maternal and newborn deaths. Within the context of the wider UN system, it is our view that the Human Rights Council should consider what value it can add to efforts to eliminate preventable maternal mortality. This necessarily requires a coordinated and multi-sectoral approach.
The resolution builds upon the joint statement supported by 85 states, as delivered in the March session of the Council, as well as the Council’s panel debate on maternal mortality that was held last June.
In the resolution, we recognise that preventable maternal mortality and morbidity is a health, development and human rights challenge, which also requires the effective promotion and protection of the human rights of women and girls.
We reaffirm our existing human rights obligations, and request States to renew their political commitment to eliminating preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, as well as giving renewed emphasis to maternal mortality and morbidity initiatives in their development partnerships and cooperation arrangements.
The resolution does not contain any new normative standards or principles. It brings together consideration of existing human rights standards that are relevant to eliminating preventable maternal mortality and morbidity.
This initiative is about supporting and enhancing existing efforts; we do not wish to duplicate or undermine any existing efforts to achieve MDG5. In this context, we recognise the leading efforts of organisations such as the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Population Fund.
It was important for our delegations to ensure that a broad range of views could be heard and accommodated to the greatest extent possible, noting that this is the first resolution dedicated to the issue of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity in the Human Rights Council. Accordingly we held five open informal consultations on this text, as well as a number of bilateral consultations with interested delegations.
We appreciate the high level of engagement on this resolution and we thank delegations for their constructive engagement on the resolution, in particular, for their continuous efforts to reach consensus. We also would like to express appreciation to OHCHR for their continued support to this process particularly that of the Gender Unit, as well as to the Special Rapporteur on Health, WHO and UNFPA staff.
Looking ahead, we hope that all States and stakeholders will submit contributions to the thematic study requested in the resolution and will engage actively in the interactive dialogue we envisage for the Council’s June session next year. In our view, the study could be an important tool to assist our engagement in the Council by providing consolidated information for all delegations and stakeholders to consider regarding the human rights dimensions of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity. In this sense, we reiterate that the study is intended to be inclusive, cooperative and comprehensive.
We recognize the important role of civil society in the efforts to eliminate preventable maternal mortality and morbidity. We thank all those civil society representatives who have contributed to this initiative for their professional approach. We also urge civil society representatives to contribute to the thematic study, in particular to share successful examples or practices that may be relevant to the Council’s consideration of the human rights dimensions of this issue.
Mr. President:
The Resolution “Preventable Maternal Mortality and Morbidity and Human Rights”, enjoys the support of more than 70 delegations, including delegations from all regions. This reflects that the issue is not limited to any one region or culture and that cooperative effort is needed to reduce the rates of mortality and morbidity.
In addition to those listed on the resolution, we are pleased that the following delegations are also able to cosponsor the resolution:
Latvia, Andorra, Jordan, Morocco, Mauritius, Cameroon, Singapore, Cuba, Slovakia, Serbia, Denmark, Bulgaria, Iceland, Nepal, Senegal, South Africa, Costa Rica, and Hungary.
We entrust that this resolution can be adopted by consensus.
Thank you Mr President.
