Every two minutes a woman dies in pregnancy and childbirth: Tackling a global maternal health crisis by UNFPA, UNCEF, WHO, agencies   Apr. 2025   Women today are more likely than ever to survive pregnancy and childbirth, according to a major new report released today, but United Nations (UN) agencies highlight the threat of major backsliding as unprecedented aid cuts take effect around the world.   Released on World Health Day, the UN report, Trends in maternal mortality, shows a 40 per cent global decline in maternal deaths between 2000 and 2023 – largely due to improved access to essential health services. Still, the report reveals that the pace of improvement has slowed significantly since 2016, and that an estimated 260,000 women died in 2023 as a result of complications from pregnancy or childbirth – roughly equivalent to one maternal death every two minutes.   The report comes as humanitarian funding cuts are having severe impacts on essential health care in many parts of the world, forcing countries to roll back vital services for maternal, newborn and child health. These cuts have led to facility closures and loss of health workers, while also disrupting supply chains for lifesaving supplies and medicines such as treatments for haemorrhage, pre-eclampsia and malaria – all leading causes of maternal deaths.   Without urgent action, the agencies warn that pregnant women in multiple countries will face severe repercussions – particularly those in humanitarian settings where maternal deaths are already alarmingly high.   “While this report shows glimmers of hope, the data also highlights how dangerous pregnancy still is in much of the world today – despite the fact that solutions exist to prevent and treat the complications that cause the vast majority of maternal deaths,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO).   “In addition to ensuring access to quality maternity care, it will be critical to strengthen the underlying health and reproductive rights of women and girls – factors that underpin their prospects of healthy outcomes during pregnancy and beyond.”   The report also provides the first global account of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on maternal survival. In 2021, an estimated 40,000 more women died due to pregnancy or childbirth – increasing to 322,000 from 282,000 the previous year. This upsurge was linked not only to direct complications caused by COVID-19 but also widespread interruptions to maternity services.   This highlights the importance of ensuring such care during pandemics and other emergencies, noting that pregnant women need reliable access to routine services and checks as well as round-the-clock urgent care.   “When a mother dies in pregnancy or childbirth, her baby’s life is also at risk. Too often, both are lost to causes we know how to prevent,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.   “Global funding cuts to health services are putting more pregnant women at risk, especially in the most fragile settings, by limiting their access to essential care during pregnancy and the support they need when giving birth. The world must urgently invest in midwives, nurses, and community health workers to ensure every mother and baby has a chance to survive and thrive.”   The report highlights persistent inequalities between regions and countries, as well as uneven progress. With maternal mortality declining by around 40 per cent between 2000 and 2023, sub-Saharan Africa achieved significant gains – and was one of just three UN regions alongside Australia and New Zealand, and Central and Southern Asia, to see significant drops after 2015. However, confronting high rates of poverty and multiple conflicts, the sub-Saharan Africa region still counted for approximately 70 per cent of the global burden of maternal deaths in 2023.   Indicating slowing progress, maternal mortality stagnated in five regions after 2015: Northern Africa and Western Asia, Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand), Europe and North America, and Latin America and the Caribbean.   “Access to quality maternal health services is a right, not a privilege, and we all share the urgent responsibility to build well-resourced health systems that safeguard the life of every pregnant woman and newborn,” said Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA’s Executive Director.   “By boosting supply chains, the midwifery workforce, and the disaggregated data needed to pinpoint those most at risk, we can and must end the tragedy of preventable maternal deaths and their enormous toll on families and societies.”   Pregnant women living in humanitarian emergencies face some of the highest risks globally, according to the report. Nearly two-thirds of global maternal deaths now occur in countries affected by fragility or conflict. For women in these settings, the risks are staggering: a 15-year-old girl faces a 1 in 51 risk of dying from a maternal cause at some point over her lifetime compared to 1 in 593 in more stable countries. The highest risks are in Chad and the Central African Republic (1 in 24), followed by Nigeria (1 in 25), Somalia (1 in 30), and Afghanistan (1 in 40).   Beyond ensuring critical services during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period, the report notes the importance of efforts to enhance women’s overall health by improving access to family planning services, as well as preventing underlying health conditions like anaemias, malaria and noncommunicable diseases that increase risks. It will also be critical to ensure girls stay in school and that women and girls have the knowledge and resources to protect their health.   Urgent investment is needed to prevent maternal deaths. The world is currently off-track to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal target for maternal survival. Globally, the maternal mortality ratio would need to fall by around 15 per cent each year to meet the 2030 target – significantly increasing from current annual rates of decline of around 1.5 per cent.   http://www.unfpa.org/news/every-two-minutes-woman-dies-pregnancy-and-childbirth-tackling-global-maternal-health-crisis http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/aid-cuts-threaten-fragile-progress-ending-maternal-deaths-un-agencies-warn http://www.who.int/campaigns/world-health-day/2025 http://news.un.org/en/audio/2025/03/1161586 http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/04/1161936 http://www.unfpa.org/press/statement-unfpa-executive-director-united-states-government-funding-cuts
	Women and girls are demanding change – and they deserve nothing less by United Nations News, UN Women   Mar. 2025 (UN News)   The basic rights of women and girls are facing unprecedented growing threats worldwide, from higher levels of discrimination to weaker legal protections -and less funding for programmes and institutions which support and protect women.   UN Women’s latest report Women's Rights in Review 30 Years After Beijing, published on the UN 50th International Women’s Day on 8 March, shows that in 2024, nearly a quarter of governments worldwide reported a backlash on women’s rights.   Despite decades of advocacy, economic instability, the climate crisis, rising conflicts and political pushback have contributed to a worsening landscape for gender equality.   While 87 countries have been led by a woman at some point in history, true parity is still a long way off. Alarmingly, UN Women reports that a woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes by a family member or intimate partner.   The digital space is also exacerbating gender disparities, the UN agency argues, with artificial intelligence and some social media platforms amplifying harmful stereotypes. Meanwhile, women and girls remain underrepresented in digital and tech-related fields.   Without robust and gender-responsive social protections, vulnerable people can fall through the cracks. Women and girls are more likely to be at risk for poverty or to experience it, as evidenced in 2023, where 2 billion women and girls had no social protection coverage. In 2024, 393 million women and girls were living in extreme poverty.   In the past decade, there has been a disturbing 50 per cent increase in the number of women and girls directly exposed to conflict, and women’s rights defenders confront daily harassment, personal attacks and even death, UN Women said.   These findings underscore that crises such as COVID-19, soaring food and fuel prices, and the undermining of democratic institutions are not just slowing progress – but actively reversing gains.   “When women and girls can rise, we all thrive,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his message for the day. Yet, “instead of mainstreaming equal rights, we are seeing the mainstreaming of misogyny.”   “Together, we must stand firm in making human rights, equality and empowerment a reality for all women and girls, for everyone, everywhere,” he emphasised.   UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous echoed this urgency: “Complex challenges stand in the way of gender equality and women’s empowerment, but we remain steadfast. Women and girls are demanding change – and they deserve nothing less.”   As the world marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration in 2025, the most visionary roadmap for furthering women’s rights, UN Women's latest report shows progress that must be acknowledged.   Since 1995, countries have enacted 1,531 legal reforms advancing gender equality, maternal mortality has dropped by a third and women’s representation in parliaments has more than doubled.   Yet, as the report makes clear, significant work remains to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The newly introduced Beijing+30 Action Agenda outlines priority areas to accelerate progress.   While countries may signal their commitments to gender equality through adopting gender-responsive and inclusive policies, without follow-through and proper funding, they may have little impact in the long term.   Equal access to technology and online safety must be ensured for all women and girls, while investments in social protection, universal health care and education are all deemed essential for women’s economic independence.   Women-led organizations must receive dedicated funding to build lasting peace and women’s leadership in environmental policies must be prioritised, ensuring equal access to green jobs.   Meanwhile, countries must adopt and implement legislation to end violence against women and girls, in all its forms, with well-resourced plans that include support for community-based organizations on the front lines of response and prevention.   Turning words into action   As gender equality faces one of its most challenging periods in decades, UN Women is calling on governments, businesses and civil society to reinforce their commitments to women’s rights, to ensure that all women and girls, everywhere, can fully enjoy their rights and freedoms.   http://www.unwomen.org/en/get-involved/international-womens-day http://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2025-03/womens-rights-in-review-30-years-after-beijing-en.pdf http://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/feature-story/2025/02/womens-rights-in-2025-hope-resilience-and-the-fight-against-backlash http://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/timeline/never-backing-down-women-march-forward-for-equal-rights http://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/the-beijing-declaration-and-platform-for-action-at-30-and-why-that-matters-for-gender-equality http://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories http://www.unicef.org/adolescent-girls-rights   * Mar 2025: 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women   In 2025, the global community will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). The 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations from 10 to 21 March 2025. Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world will attend the sessions.   The main focus of the sixty-ninth session will be on the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly. The review will include an assessment of current challenges that affect the implementation of the Platform for Action and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and its contribution towards the full realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.   States submitted national-level reviews of the progress made and challenges encountered and regional commissions of the United Nations also undertook regional reviews:   http://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/commission-on-the-status-of-women http://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/commission-on-the-status-of-women/csw69-2025/preparations#_National_review http://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/commission-on-the-status-of-women/csw69-2025/preparations#_Regional_review http://docs.un.org/en/E/CN.6/2025/L.1 Visit the related web page
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