African Union and Maternal Health

African Union Summit Pledges for Maternal and Child Health

The 15th Heads of State Summit of the African Union (AU) ended in Uganda's capital, Kampala, on the 27th of July. The Summit was attended by 35 government leaders from the AU's 53 members. The theme of the meetings was “Maternal, Infant, and Child Health and Development in Africa," which is a significant step towards being able to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4 and 5.This is especially critical in a region that has unacceptably high levels of child and maternal mortalities.

Though the meeting was overshadowed by the recent terrorist bombings in Somalia some weeks earlier, a number of important decisions and commitments were made regarding the problems faced by Africa’s mothers and children.

Leaders agreed to extend the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA) to all African countries. Launched last year in 23 countries, its main objective is to accelerate the availability and use of universal accessible quality health service that are critical for the reduction of maternal mortality. Though the campaign’s main thrust so far has focused on mothers, AU leaders decided that it should also include the health of newborns and children, promising to each observe a week of CARMMA every year.

Countries also renewed the Abuja commitment to reach the target of allocating 15% of the national budgets to healthcare. This commitment was made in the Abuja Special Summit in 2001 to meet the universal health needs of the African people. So far, only Botswana, Rwanda, Niger, Malawi, Zambia and Burkina are currently meeting this target

The very real possibility that the majority of African countries would not be able to meet the MDGs cut off date of 2015 was mentioned during the Summit.  Decisions were made to adopt the best health practices that were in use in other member states. Also discussed was the best way for African countries to access funds pledged by the recent G8 Summit and called for countries to produce annual reports on maternal and child health to share at future AU meetings.

However, by putting maternal and child health on the forefront of their agenda, the AU has made an important statement in recognizing that health and development are inextricably linked.

Calling the meetings a resounding success, AU President Bingu Wa Mutharika said, "We have made decisions before but implementation has been a problem. It is time for our people to see the results. We have the means and political will, let us do it. I believe the future of the world depends on us.”

Nonetheless, civil society organizations remain skeptical about the fulfillment of promises. Overall, though happy about the outcome of the meeting, concrete action on the parts of Africa’s leaders and government was called for. 

Desire Assogbavi, Head of Oxfam's AU Liaison office, said, "While this declaration is a positive step, most of it has been promised before but has never been delivered. Only 10% of AU decisions are effectively implemented. There is a need to immediately put in place comprehensive tracking and monitoring mechanisms to ensure the decisions are fully implemented at national level. African people are tired of rhetoric – now they need to see real change in their daily lives"