Opening remarks by Ms. Flavia Pansieri, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Panel on Maternal Mortality and Morbidity and Human Rights

Geneva, 10 September 2014

Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am pleased to welcome you to this side event, which will help to highlight and evaluate the impact of our technical guidance regarding maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights.

I want to extend a particular welcome to our panellists who have travelled considerable distances to share their experiences with us today. I would also like to express my appreciation to the Permanent Missions of Burkina Faso, Colombia and New Zealand, who have so ably led the Council’s work on maternal mortality and morbidity. I am delighted to speak today on behalf of our sister UN agencies – WHO and UNFPA – as well as the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, who have joined together with OHCHR to promote the technical guidance in a variety of ways.

Today’s event is co-sponsored by a broad cross-section of States, civil society, UN and other stakeholders – and this demonstrates our common resolve to end preventable maternal mortality and morbidity. We know that MDG 5 will not be met. And we know that ending preventable maternal mortality and morbidity requires not only action to improve health systems, but also broader efforts to eliminate discrimination against women and guarantee their rights to education, work, equality within the family, and autonomy to make decisions about their bodies and their lives.

This is why it is so important that this conversation has been happening at the Human Rights Council. What this work clearly demonstrates is how much can be achieved at the Human Rights Council with the right mix of political will, determination, diplomacy and hard work. Some five and a half years ago, a cross-regional statement on maternal mortality and morbidity as a human rights issue first called on the Council to take action. Two reports to the Council followed, which significantly increased understanding about the human rights violations which so seriously affect maternal health.

As the Council deepened its discussion of maternal mortality and morbidity, its next step was to request technical guidance on the application of a rights based approach. At this point we crossed from theory into practice, in an effort to provide practical guidance on how States and other stakeholders can take action to address maternal mortality and morbidity, in line with their human rights obligations. The technical guidance was welcomed by the Council in 2012, and implementation was strongly encouraged.

Two years later, we are here to discuss how the technical guidance is being deployed in a range of different contexts. I am very encouraged not only by the diversity of stakeholders engaging with the technical guidance, but also the wide variety of contexts in which it is proving to be a valuable tool. It is used to inform advocacy, as a basis for capacity building, as a guide for policy making, and as a support for multi-stakeholder processes. Our panellists today will talk about some of these initiatives, and a range of other examples feature in the report of the High Commissioner.

Together with our partners, we have disseminated the guidance widely and jointly supported efforts to pilot it in specific countries, namely Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa. There is also interest, led by UNICEF, to pilot the guidance in the Dominican Republic.

As you know, technical guidance is now also available regarding application of a rights-based approach to the mortality and morbidity of children under the age of five. We have been closely coordinating our efforts on maternal health with this work on child health, including in all of the pilot activities which I have just mentioned. Clearly, maternal and child health are integrally related, although analysis from a women’s rights perspective and from a child rights perspective give rise to different human rights concerns.

Today’s event, taken together with the contents of the High Commissioner’s report, will, I hope, give insight into the scale and significance of what has been accomplished in the past two years. I encourage you to see this as the success of the Human Rights Council, which has driven this process from a cross-regional statement less than six years ago to the point where we have specific projects in countries across the globe; explicit integration of human rights objectives in strategies and planning frameworks; and better capacity of policy-makers and service- providers to implement rights-based approaches.

Of course there is still more to do. Two years is not enough time. But when we take stock of what has been achieved in these short two years, I am convinced that this work is not only a moral imperative but also a wise investment. With strengthened resolve and continued political will, the Council can play a critical and life-saving role in maintaining the spotlight on this fundamental message: every death of a mother to be is one too many and women’s sexual and reproductive health rights must be ensured.

As members of the UN family, we are committed to continuing our close cooperation, with the aim of eliminating preventable maternal mortality and morbidity through the realization of human rights. We know that we will only reach this aim in partnership with each other, and with all of you – representatives of Governments, academia, civil society and the health profession. We trust that you will stay engaged with us to reach our goal.

Thank you.