Help us keep women & newborns a UK government priority

20 January 2012

Source: Manifesto for Motherhood Coalition & PSN

PSN and other members of the Manifesto for Motherhood coalition have sent a letter encouraging the UK government to remain committed to reproductive, maternal and newborn health. 

 

Choices for women: one year on

One year on since the introduction of the Choices for women: The UK’s Framework for Results for improving reproductive, maternal, and newborn health in the developing world, the Manifesto for Motherhood Coalition wants to know how our government is keeping its promises to women and children in the developing world and encourages the Government to remain dedicated to our international commitments on family planning and a safe pregnancy and child birth.

 

January 2012

Dear Secretary of State,

Choices for Women: planned pregnancies, safe births and healthy newborns - one year on.

First of all let us congratulate you for keeping women and children at the heart of Government's international development agenda. We share your vision of a "developing world where all women are able to exercise choice over the size and timing of their families, where no woman dies giving birth and where all newborns survive and thrive".

Under your leadership, as a result of this vision, the Department for International Development launched Choices for women: planned pregnancies, safe births and healthy newborns - The UK's Framework for Results for improving reproductive, maternal and newborn health in the developing world in December 2010. The framework promised that the UK will double its efforts for women’s and children’s health and will achieve the following results by 2015:

• Save the lives of at least 50,000 women during pregnancy and childbirth and 250,000 newborn babies by 2015
• Enable at least 10 million more women to use modern methods of family planning by 2015, contributing to a wider global goal of 100 million new users
• Prevent more than 5 million unintended pregnancies
• Support at least 2 million safe deliveries, ensuring long lasting improvements in quality maternity services, particularly for the poorest 40%.

One year on since the introduction of the Choices for women we would like to know:

1. How the Government is keeping the promises it made to women and children in the developing world and ask you to provide details about the funding committed so far and how these commitments will be upheld in the coming years?
2. What measures have been put in place to promote accountability for results at all levels with increased transparency?
3. What activities and measures have been put in place to realise the UK’s international commitments on sexual and reproductive health and rights and advocate for other countries to do the same?
4. How the Government envisages the goals and principles of Choices for women will be reflected in the post 2015 development framework?
   

As there has been no annual assessment on the progress made within the Choices for women framework so far, we urge you to develop a detailed evaluation framework and publish the results.

We, the Manifesto for Motherhood Coalition, eagerly look forward to your response. 

 

Signed by the twenty-eight members of the Manifesto for Motherhood Coalition, the letter is available in Correspondence.