Chile's president, Michele Bachelet, presented the Commitment to Action of Santiago alongside representatives of 9 countries of the region, integration mechanisms and United Nations agencies, among them PAHO/WHO. This Commitment to Action seeks to start the implementation of the Global Strategy for Women's, Children´s and Adolescent's Health in the region.
Santiago de Chile, 4 July 2017-Latin American and Caribbean countries agreed today to work to end the preventable mortality of women, children and adolescents by 2030, and to develop effective actions for that population to prosper and transform the world.
Chile's president, Michele Bachelet, presented the Commitment to Action of Santiago alongside representatives of 9 countries of the region, integration mechanisms and United Nations agencies, among them PAHO/WHO. This Commitment to Action seeks to start the implementation of the Global Strategy for Women's, Children´s and Adolescent's Health (2016-2030) in the region, a roadmap launched by the UN Secretary-General to improve the health and well-being, and achieve a more prosperous and sustainable future, leaving no one behind.
Within the framework of the High-Level Meeting " Every Woman, Every Child, Every Adolescent" held in the Palacio de la Moneda, Chiles' president stated that survive, thrive, and transform - the three objectives of the strategy - " are much more than three verbs. They are a concrete call we make and take up as a community of nations committed to the development of our societies, and they will guide and inspire our work."
"It's been an intense day of work, shared experiences and recommendations on the Global Strategy, and how to progress in its implementation both at the regional, sub-regional and national level. This, with a view to achieving the Sustainable Development Objectives in the Latin America and the Caribbean region between now and 2030, and building fairer societies and with greater equity in health for all" said the President, who is the co-chair of the High-level Steering Group of the Every Woman Every Child movement.
"Health inequities are not only unjust, they also threaten the advances we have made in the last decades, and endanger economic growth and social development" in Latin America and the Caribbean, said Carissa Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization. "We have an obligation to ensure that political actions reach the most disadvantaged people first and then gradually benefit every woman, child, and adolescent in our region," said Etienne.
It is estimated that in the region more than 6,200 women died in 2015 from complications during pregnancy and childbirth, most of which can be prevented. In addition, about 196,000 children under the age of 5 die in Latin America and the Caribbean each year, of which 85% were less than 1 year old. The health of adolescents and their chances of prosperity are conditioned by inequalities in access to health, education and employment opportunities. The region has one of the highest adolescent birth rates in the world and among its main causes of death are homicides (24%), road accidents (20%) and suicides (7%).
In the document, the attending authorities express that they will work to mobilize and catalyze action towards achieving the goals that the Global Strategy drives and are aligned with the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, they also commit to address to address gender, ethnic and human rights inequalities so that no one is left behind, taking into account that these dimensions intersect and overlap in situations of discrimination, especially towards poorer women, children and adolescents.
The Commitment for Action recognizes as priority actions the reduction of inequities in health according to human rights norms and principles, with special attention to vulnerable populations; the prioritization of quality in universal access to health services; the strengthening of cooperation among countries to address specific contexts; and the promotion of multisectoral actions within and between countries.
"We need to look beyond survival, and aim for children to realize their full potential." said Nana Taona Kuo senior manager of Every Woman, Every Child "Social determinants of health require a multisectoral agenda. We must work on health, not only to improve health indicators, but also as the basis for achieving all of the Sustainable Development Goals", she stated.
"The Sustainable Development Goals are fundamentally about exclusion and inequality. And it is no longer a question of north or south, but even within countries there is exclusion, "said Luiz Loures, UN Assistant-Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS. Loures acknowledged the leadership of the region for the implementation of the Global Strategy: "Latin America and the Caribbean are the first to have a regional coordination [EWEC LAC]. There is yet much to do but there are already plans to work in one direction and that is fundamental."
According to Alicia Bárcenas, executive secretary of Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the 2030 Agenda is "civilizing, indivisible and universal that aspires to shared prosperity". "The aim of this meeting is equality with respect to the ownership of rights. And the proposal is to create a new political pact to move from the culture of privilege to the culture of equality, " she emphasized. She added that disaggregating information is a mandate of the 20130 Agenda: "what is not measured does not matter, and we must break the statistical silence."
The Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescent's Health recommends packages of interventions that countries can use to end preventable deaths among women, children, and adolescents, including vaccination, adequate nutrition, exclusive breastfeeding, access to safe water and adequate sanitation, education and employment opportunities for women, access to quality health services, and access to and access to sexual and reproductive health methods.
The meeting convened the Minister of Health of Barbados, John Boyce, the Minister of Social Development of Brazil, Osmar Gasparini Terra; the Chilean ministers of Finance, Rodrigo Valdés, of Health, Carmen Castillo; of Education, Adriana Delpiano; of Women and Gender Equity, Claudia Pascual; and of Social Development, Marcos Barraza; the representative of the Ministry of Health of Cuba, the Presidential Secretary of Women of Guatemala, Leticia Aguilar Theissen, the Secretary of Health of Mexico, José Narro, the Vice-Minister of Health of Uruguay, Cirstina Lustember, the ambassador of Canada to Chile, Marcel Lebleu, among others. Also involved was the wife of Prime Minister and Special Envoy for Women and Children of Belize, Kim Simplis Barrow.
In the meeting also participated regional directors for Latin America and Caribbean: María Cristina Perceval (UNICEF); Esteban Caballero (UNFPA); and, Luiza Carvalho (UN Women); César Núñez (UNAIDS); Emma Iriarte, BID representative; Katie Qutub, USAID representative; and Gastón Blanco, World Bank representative in Chile. Integration mechanisms like COMISCA, ISAGS/UNASUR, ORAS-CONHU y CARICOM were also present in the event.
Links
- Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health
- Every Woman, Every Child
- https://twitter.com/opsoms #EWECsoyYO
