SI UN Representative Dora Vrdlovec reports back from an event in Vienna to raise awareness about Millennium Development Goal 5:

2015 is not far away, but what does seem very  far away are some of the Millennium Development Goals.

To raise awareness and galvanise action on MDG 5 (improve maternal health, reducing by three quarters the maternal mortality ration), a platform of Austrian NGOs, including the national committee of UN WOMAN, organised a ‘Mother’s Night’ on the
11th of May, the eve of  Mother’s Day. MDG 5 was adopted
by world leaders in the year 2000 and set to be achieved by 2015 yet it is still far
from being reached. To promote the perilous position of women, giving birth in the world’s poorest countries, the platform hosted a screening of an interesting and stunning
documentary film entitled “Grace under Fire” (in
English).

Giving birth is
especially risky in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Less than half the women giving birth in these regions are attended by
skilled health personnel. Most of the 350,000 maternal
deaths could be avoided with a few relatively simple interventions and provisions.

The Democratic Republic of Congo: The Most Dangerous Place to be a Woman

North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has been described as
one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman. Since 1998, as the
Congolese army has battled against a number of rebel militias, 5.5 million
civilians have been killed and more than half a million women raped. It is estimated that the conflict is now bloodier than any since World
War II.

This film, mixing the beauty of Congo with the tragedy of war, lets us follow
the Congolese journey of  Dr. Grace Kodindo – known across the
world for her fight to stop women dying in pregnancy and childbirth – as she
tries to find out what help is available for the women affected by the fighting.

“Do the women here have access to the emergency
services, health care and specialist drugs they need?”  Dr Grace asks to doctors, nurses and ordinary
people to find answers; but even she is moved and shocked by what she sees and
hears from the women, most of them having been raped and therefore abandoned by
their husbands and village communities. She can’t refrain her tears, listening to doctors and health workers compassionate expose about
being unable to help, and having no medical resources.

Dr. Kodindo’s empathy and passion stresses the
pressing need for women’s protection from sexual violence and access to
adequate health care. This documentary highlights not only the
impact of the Congolese war on civilians, but also the need for efforts to
ensure that women and children have access to most basic forms of medical care.
One argument of Dr. Kodindo is that certain healthcare interventions, such as
delivery kits, are low-cost but highly effective in saving lives: ”Focusing on
low-cost, simple medical technology may be the answer to some global health
threats."

 

Find out more about Mother’s Night (Mutter Nach) here: www.mutternacht.at/

Find out more about bull frog educational films and documentaries here: www.bullfrogfilms.com