Last year, the US debate over health reform took an ugly turn over the issue of maternity care, when Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona blithely declared “I don’t need [it].” Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan replied: “I think your mom probably did.”

The media furor over this exchange has long since died down. But I personally cannot stop thinking about it. This exchange raises issues far too important and enduring for just a flash of media attention, issues essential to the search for common ground on abortion and the fostering of universal human rights. Pro-choicers in the US pointed out Kyl’s hypocrisy as someone who calls himself “pro-life.” Many pro-lifers condemn the same contradiction.

Problem of maternal healthcare

There is plenty of scientific evidence to back up the outrage against Kyl. According to data gathered by United Nations agencies like United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the US ranks 29th globally in infant mortality and 41st in maternal mortality, in large part because of racial and class disparities in health care access, and because of US providers who have economic incentives not to follow the best practices available.

Healthcare for mothers: A basic right

In support of universal health care, Childbirth Connection points out that 85% of US women give birth at some point in their lives and 4.3 million do so in any given year. Twenty-three per cent of hospital discharges are of childbearing women and newborns, who account for a far larger proportion of total hospital charges than any other group of patients. As well as involving so much of the population and the health services sector, maternity care offers unique opportunities to improve the life courses and health outcomes of mothers, fetuses, and newborns.

Globally embraced documents of the universal human rights movement also support the outrage against Kyl, even though the last two of these have yet to be ratified by my country, shamefully enough. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights identifies “medical care and necessary social services” as human rights, and “motherhood and childhood” as “entitled to special care and assistance.”

CEDAW, the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, asserts the responsibility of states to “ensure to women appropriate services in connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period, granting free services where necessary.” According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, states have a responsibility to implement every child’s right to ’special safeguards and care…before as well as after birth.” This includes the “diminish[ment] of infant and child mortality” and the ensuring of “appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care for mothers.”

A way of reducing abortion?

As a pro-lifer who affirms all of these universal human rights, I also recognize another dimension to guarantee maternity care for all, something that concerns pro-choicers, too, for different but often overlapping reasons. Along with being a right on its own, universal, guaranteed maternity care is also, not one whit less importantly, an indispensable way to alleviate situational pressures upon women towards abortion. In particular, it is helpful to reduce pressure upon the poor, including the global poor, women who have disabilities or who carry disabled babies, women of color, immigrants and refugees, and students.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 57% of US women who have abortions are economically disadvantaged. Lack of access to free/affordable health care, including family planning services and both maternity and pediatric care, is both a cause and consequence of economic disadvantage. This also helps to explain, for example, the fact that African American women have five times as many abortions as white women.

Consequences on the poor

The consequences of denying maternity care are even more dire for the global poor. Although the withheld funds have thankfully been restored, my own government quite recently withheld $34 million per year from UNFPA, the world’s largest force for proper maternity care and other solutions to abortion, like family planning. (Contrary to what some US pro-lifers believe, UNFPA has an official policy of not promoting abortion.)

This defunding may have caused nearly 800,000 induced abortions, as well as 2 million unsought pregnancies, 4700 maternal deaths, nearly 60,000 cases of serious maternal illness, and over 77,00 neonatal and child deaths.

Even in such a wealthy nation as the US, many women’s and children’s own life and death stories also validate the right of maternity care. Although my poverty was nothing like the deep poverty of so many in the world, I vividly remember how challenging it was for me in 1986-87 as a student with disabilities to hold onto the expensive private insurance plan my daughter and I so desperately needed throughout and beyond that medical and emotional roller coaster of an unplanned, high-risk pregnancy.

Two decades later, when my college student daughter became pregnant herself, she and her baby–who turned out to have a life-threatening but correctable gut impairment– were also subjected to uncertain coverage. My grandson is a year and a half now, but we are *still* fighting the plan’s refusal to pay for his mom’s emergency asthma treatment in the eighth month of pregnancy.

And yet we were all the “lucky” ones. I can’t imagine how any of us would be alive today without the access to proper health care we somehow managed to have. I shudder to think what might have happened otherwise. This inter-generational story is but one deep source of my conviction that US society, not only Senator Kyl, must stop already in its dismissal of maternity care, a matter of life and death, as some lightweight thing that one can access only via fluke.

A universal problem

To regard maternity care as simply an option that “I don’t need” is to wash one’s hands of collective responsibility for mothers and babies and therefore to have complicity in those situational pressures towards abortion. This responsibility extends beyond those who are mothers or wish to become mothers, to every member of society. Countries that regard maternity care as everybody’s business and everybody’s concern, such as the Netherlands, have abortion rates that are a small fraction of the high US rate.

Every single one of us grew inside the body of a woman who needed access to proper health care to keep both herself and her baby alive and well. I only need to look at the faces of my daughter and grandchild and my own in the mirror to know that universal, guaranteed maternity care is a moral and political imperative everywhere. A rich country like mine must do all it can to make guaranteed maternal healthcare a reality not only for its own residents, but all women and children throughout the world.

This post is a response to the post Are pregnant women expendable?

Over the years, many policies have had a discriminatory impact on African women, often unintended since gender equity/equality has hardly been assimilated in the society. This is mostly due to certain constraints and barriers that women face in our society, as a result of social, cultural and legal norms.

Some of the cultural beliefs is that it’s not sensible for a woman to own land, since women were considered as strangers. In other words, as someone’s property; and, it will be foolish for property to own property.

Though, most of the lands then were considered as shrines, secret lands for the gods or evil lands for the deaths, and thus a taboo for a woman to go close to such zones. Paradoxically, these sites have become centre township villes in recent years.

Yet, women are relegated to occupy only limited circumscribed position in the society of which leads to a major contribution to the feminine poverty.

Furthermore, women have been invisible in policy and decision making which has eliminated their perspectives, concerns and possible alternative approaches regarding environmental sustainability. Consequently, developmental activities and men’s interest in selected natural resources is geared towards money making.

These actions ignored the long-team effects on the environment and natural resources. As a result, women and their families are adversely affected by projects that deplete the resources base on which they rely.
For example, their men deplete the natural resources through exploitation. Hence, the women are exposed as victims of environmental damage– especially women living in fringe rural and urban areas. They are at particular risk from environmental dislocation because their livelihood depends so much on stable and fertile natural resources.

Furthermore, their bodies adsorb pollutants and toxins that, because of their reproduction role, can be passed on to the next generation. They are more vulnerable to the ravages of declining resources because of their daily responsibilities in caring for the families and communities.

That is not all. Women tend to work longer hours than men. This difference in workload is particularly marked for rural women, the world’s principal food producers. Women are involved in every stage of food production and, although there is a gender-based division of labor, women tend to shoulder the larger share.

In addition to food production activities, women have the responsibilities of preparing and processing the food, while fulfilling their fundamental role of nurturing and caring for children and tending to elderly members of the household.

Following an oral interview with Mr. Awantos, he feels that the increasing rate of the workload upon women is due to lack of employment and other income-generating opportunities for their men. Thus, this has led to an increasing seasonal or permanent emigration of male population and, therefore, a significant rise in the number of female headed household, and also the “feminization” of agriculture.

When interviewing some rural women on their opinion, Ma Josephine said,

It’s obvious that the rural women, for example, generations after generations, have built up a stock of knowledge about their local environment, its nature and resources durability, also their medicinal and other uses. We can tell when it’s favorable for particular crop cultivation, taking into consideration all environmental and climatic conditionality. But, because there is a gender bias in resources allocation, men have not given women the opportunity to deeply explore these skills and gain experience, which are significant– not only to their own individual needs, but also for the need of the society.

According to Ma Achu, women are better natural resources managers. But, their unequal status and limited access to education has led to many unfair results. This can only be corrected by:

• A holistic environmental development approached is implemented

• Empowering women by giving them the legal right to own any resource

• Rural economy should be diversified. In other words, farming should not be the only occupation; let women be trained in different fields of work. For example, while some are doing farming, others could be trained to become secretaries, typists, etc.

Finally, there should be a change in attitude and social perception towards women.

If women we given equal status in all societies in the world, we would have not only a better life for women, but a drastic lowering of AIDS, poverty, and population growth. Without a reduction in population growth, no amount of technology can save mankind for very long from man-caused environmental collapse. We could very well see a civilization-saving reversal of world population by this one mechanism alone.

Watch the participants from the international IGLYO conference in Amsterdam, This is Who We Are perform a flash mob (an act in which a large group of people gathers to perform an unusual act to raise awareness) by the famous Homomonument, a monument commemorating gay men and lesbians who have suffered persecution due to their sexuality. These participants fall to the ground and pretend to die to bring awareness to the problem of homophobia.

Poor women who have no decision making power their partners, specially their husbands, are the victim of HIV/AIDS. This is one of the main reasons why most people with HIV/AIDS are women. This is true not only in poor communities, but in all social classes. Women are suffereing from AIDS which is not their fault, whether they aware or not. So poverty is one of the factor, but not the only one. We need to change the perception.

A great deal of attention is placed on domestic violence (or violence within the family) and its effects on women and girls. At the same time, violence against women and girls extends into the public sphere (such as sexual harassment, rape, robbery) and a great deal of good work is happening in this areas well . I suggest that violence against women and girls in the public and private spheres are not separate issues and as such, should not be treated separately in our work to eliminate violence against women and girls.

Violence against women and girls in the public sphere directly influences and reinforces attitudes about the vulnerability and objectivity of women and girls within society as a whole. These attitudes are taken into the home and enacted in personal relationships in the private context.

Simultaneously, violence against women and girls in the private sphere creates a set of norms for male-female relations in public. Thus, women and girls are more afraid in public space due to their experiences of violence at home. Violence against women and girls in public is also perceived as normal and deserved when it is a continuation of violence in the home.

For these reasons, it is important to address violence against women and girls in both the public and private spheres. How do we bridge this gap? What kind of practices and policies approach violence against women in both spaces? How can we develop a dialogue and awareness-raising strategy that encompasses all forms of violence against women?

Many survivors of the conflict in Colombia have fled to Venezuela to take refuge where they face problems like unemployment and poverty. However, a workshop has given some refugee children the opportunity to express themselves through photography.

Counting the consequences for the victims of the armed conflict in Colombia can be extremely difficult. Survivors and refugees have had to run from their own land and cross the Venezuelan border in order to guarantee security for their families. However, even then, the situation often does not get much better. Immigration problems, unemployment, poverty and other forms of insecurity have hurt the quality of life for these families.

Focusing on children

Within these communities, children can often be the most vulnerable, yet they have immense potential to grow. The group Ancla2, which has been featured on Global Voices last year, recognized this opportunity and gave a workshop to a group of refugee children in a town called El Nula located along the Venezuelan-Colombian border. The beautiful landscapes of the region were the backdrop for the workshop, which taught the children how to approach and appreciate the details of daily live and to have a sense a community. They communicated this through the use of photography and creative writing.

An ignored community expresses itself

Thus, the blog El Nula por la Paz [es] shows the experience and the results of these workshops telling the story of a community often ignored by the mainstream media. As the site’s description reads:

Some of the workshop’s participants are featured on the blog. Cleida, 13, chooses to photograph and to write about the cows she sees around her community [in Spanish]:

Photo by Cleida and used with permission

I’m going to write about the cows. Cows give milk, and I saw this cow that I am writing about when we were on our way to La Playita. The cow had a newborn baby and a dog was eating the cow’s placenta. I took a picture and then we went to the place where this cow was, and I loved seeing its beautiful little calf.

Fourteen-year-old Álvaro took a picture of his mom and titled the post “my mom is like a rose [in Spanish]”:

Photo by Álvaro and used with permission

I took this picture because she’s my mom and I love her very much. The other picture I took was of our neighbour because she’s very kind to all people and she teaches senior citizens and children. I like to take pictures of my mom, the neighbours, the animals and other things, and also of people that went to the workshops. I took pictures of our teacher, Álvaro, of people in the street, people I know. The picture I liked the most was that of my mom and Ingrid.

Photo by Ancla2 and used with permission.

The project also attracted admiration from others in the citizen media community. David Sasaki, published a post about this project that adds more context about the ongoing conflict and the refugees:

What I love about this project is that it doesn’t just represent El Nula as a war zone like every other reference to the community that you’ll find online. No, it shows El Nula through the eyes of those who live there. When tragedy hits next then the young people of El Nula will know how to use online tools to spread awareness and seek help. But until then, they also know how to spread awareness about all the good in their lives as well.

This blog post was originally published on Global Voices on .

As Haiti slowly treads on the path to recovery and rebuilding, there is a sense of renewed concern for the countries children-especially the orphans. Various news agencies have been reporting on child traffickers targeting vulnerable children in the country, including this report at CNN.

The orphan debate has a lot of US connections because the arrested church group was American and a lot of the orphans were destined for USA if adoptions continued. On the US blogosphere, the opinion on the missionaries seems to be divided, and the attitude of the US Department of State is also being questioned.

At the legal blog Right Juris, blogger Ryan questions the State Department’s handling of the situation. In the light of facts that have emerged-that 22 out of 33 “orphans” the missionaries were trying to get to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic have living parents, and the group did not have necessary permission and documentation to take the children out of country; the State Department has decided to take the “hands off” approach.

No matter what happens the US Missionaries Charged with kidnapping Haitian orphans appear to be stuck in Haiti for quite some time. They will be there even longer if the State Department doesn’t help try and secure their release, or a transfer of the case to The United States. The question though is should the State Department intervene? What do you think? Should this group be tried and convicted of kidnapping? Should the U.S. government press for their release? Did the group really have only good intentions when they attempted to flee the country with 33 Haitian children? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Brazen attempt of the missionaries to go through their mission, without ever seeking necessary permission in the United States or in Haiti has raised doubts.

Paul Shepard at the blog Black Spin says that the missionaries have a tough road ahead.

While their hearts might have been in the right place, their heads were clearly out of commission in trying to pull off such a dangerous stunt without informing government officials in the United States or Haiti about what they were doing.

No one doubts some orphans in Haiti today would be better served by moving to loving families in other countries, but that kind of effort takes time and coordination with local officials.

Te-Ping Chen at Change.org, questions the children focused relief effort in Haiti. In her thought provoking post titled “When ‘Charity’ in Haiti Kills Children”, Chen examines the effect the missionaries’ arrest is having on volunteers who want to travel to Haiti to help.

…Since the missionaries were arrested last month, the misbegotten travails of ringleader Laura Silsby & co. have had a chilling effect on doctors, aid workers and government officials (you know, the people who have a legitimate mission in helping Haiti with the recovery process) trying to save the lives of critically injured Haitian kids.

Now, the New York Times is reporting that 10 children have died or become worse while waiting for authorization from newly skittish authorities to get on flights out of the country for treatment.

Prior to the Americans’ arrest, every day, an average of 15 injured Haitian children were getting airlifted out of Haiti onto U.S.-bound flights. Since Silsby & co. bobbed onto the scene, though, only three children have been evacuated for treatment in the U.S. on private flights….

Chen joins a growing list of people, including some very well known names, who are asking whether is it an act of kindness to remove Haiti’s children from the country in search of better life. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson has criticized the missionaries for the brash attempt, saying that “True charity would have been to help those families care for their children — not to put them in a bus and drive them away. “

Marc Herman at a previous post in Global Voices noted that surprisingly the voice of Haitian themselves has been muted on the orphans issue. He also highlights a sudden rise of interest on Haitian children after the earthquake.

Late Wednesday evening, a Haitian judge ruled that 8 of the 10 missionaries be release immediately. They will soon be flown back to the United States, leaving behind Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter. Sisby is the group’s leader.

The already fractured public opinion in the blogosphere is sure to get more intense over the surprise release of the 8 missionaries. There will also be speculation over why 2 missionaries-Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter are still being held, beyond the official explanation that the judge wants to investigate why the pair had traveled to Haiti before the devastating earthquake last month. It seems that Haiti’s children will once again be on the spotlight.

This post was originally published on Global Voices on February 18, 2010.

Many bloggers believe that the Somali government is recruiting young Kenyans to fight rebels in the Horn of Africa.

This is the first roundup of Somali blogs in 2009. Yes, it’s been more than a year since I took leave a long leave from blogging but now I’m back, for good. This is the first post and expect more posts about Somali blogosphere.

Blogger Royale Somalia profiles a young female Somali doctor in Mogadishu who’d graduated last year, he writes:

In December 2008, 20 Somali students overcame huge odds and graduated from medical school in Mogadishu—the first batch to do so for almost two decades in the failed Horn of Africa state.

Dr. Hafsa Abdurrahman Mohamed, 26, was one of those receiving a diploma from the capital’s Benadir University. Upon completing her studies, she decided to work for the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), using her skills to help provide free medical care in Somalia.

The East African Philosopher comments on Somali President Sharif Ahmed’s visit to US and the US government’s policy shift in dealing with Sharif:

In December of 2006 Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, currently only-in-name president of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, was on the run from the Ethiopian army, the CIA, and the U.S. Rangers.

East African Philisophers continues:

This week Sheikh Sharif is in Minneapolis, MN (and the home of this crazy congresswoman) meeting with Congressmen, Governor, and city councilmen/mayor. Couple of months ago he had a meeting with Secretary Clinton in Nairobi during her Africa trip. From terrorist to president for Sheikh Sharif in just two years. That, friends, must be a first. To me this says a lot about the U.S.’s awful foreign policy than anything else.

The Kenya Somali Blog says Somali government is recruiting Somali youth from Kenya:

Somalia’s U.N.-backed government has recruited more than 170 young Kenyans and former servicemen to help it fight rebels in the failed Horn of Africa state, local leaders in eastern Kenya said.

Mohamed Gabow, the mayor of Garissa, told Reuters the enrolment of ethnic Somali Kenyans was being conducted at a home in Bulla Iftin village, on the outskirts of his town.

The recruitment is not a secret. Those involved are not worried. They are going around all the villages to announce the exercise,” Gabow said in an interview late on Thursday.

This blog post was originally published on Global Voices Online on October 15, 2009.