GENDER EQUALITYHEALTH EQUITYSOCIAL PROTECTION
Every year, voices from around the world are heard calling for a future in which every pregnancy is desired. This call is loudest on World Contraception Day which is marked on the 26th of September.
African Renaissance recognizes the importance of this day, especially for the women and girls in Africa. It is a day when we roll out campaigns to expand people’s appreciation of contraception. It is a day to inspire people to make well-informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and to exercise their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).
Through Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 5 and the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) there is a global accord to end preventable maternal deaths. Sub-Saharan Africa lost 196,000 women and girls to maternal deaths in 2017 (UNICEF).
It is a clear reflection of the inequalities that we face regarding access to quality health services. Our health systems are compromised to a level where we lose our women and girls to severe bleeding, infections, high blood pressure during pregnancy, complications from delivery and unsafe abortion. Our systems have to improve to safeguard the lives of our women. We need to provide education and SRH services that will safeguard the lives of our women and girls.
We call on parliamentarians to set laws and policies to protect the rights of choice. Every pregnancy should be desired and it is the responsibility of both the woman and man. The onus is equally on the woman and the man to choose whether or not to have a child. Modes of contraception are readily available for women and men. As African Renaissance, we call upon all people of reproductive age to consider a mode of contraception. Women and men need to embrace the modes of contraception that are available and accessible to them.
We commit to continue the campaign to educate and provide access to contraception to all who need it here in Africa.
