UN report points to huge inequality gap in sexual and reproductive health across the world

GENEVA – A new study says an African woman is about 130 times more likely to die from complications in pregnancy and childbirth than a woman in Europe or North America, the UN population fund said Wednesday, as it lamented the increasing inequality in sexual and reproductive health and rights around the world.

UNFPA’s latest State of World Population report also estimates that nearly 500 maternal deaths occur in countries with humanitarian crises or conflicts, and shows that women of African descent in the Americas are more likely to die during childbirth than white women. .

“The broad global gains in sexual and reproductive health and rights over the past thirty years are undermined by a horrible truth: millions of women and girls have not benefited because of who they are or where they were born,” the fund said in a statement.

UNFPA Executive Director Dr Natalia Kanem said the unintended pregnancy rate has fallen by almost a fifth since 1990 and the maternal mortality rate has fallen by more than a third since 2000.

But “inequalities in our societies and health systems are widening and we have not given adequate priority to reaching those furthest behind,” she said. Improvements in access to health care have primarily benefited wealthier women and members of ethnic groups with better access to care, the fund said.

Kanem welcomed some progress: more than 160 countries have passed laws against domestic violence, and “legislation against LGBTQIA+ sexuality”, which was once widespread, is in retreat. Now, only a third of countries have such laws.

While he credited “the global agreement” with leading to such gains, Kanem also warned: “Human reproduction is being politicized. The rights of women, girls and gender diverse people are increasingly resisted.”

“And yet, today, that progress is slowing. By many measures, it has completely stagnated,” she said. “Annual reductions in maternal deaths have stagnated. Since 2016, the world has made no progress towards saving women from preventable deaths in pregnancy and childbirth.”

“Health systems today are weak,” Kanem added. “They are contaminated by gender inequality, racial discrimination and misinformation.”

The fund called for new investments in sexual and reproductive health, as well as improvements in sexual education, an end to gender-based violence and an “end to the unmet need for contraception” – an issue that has caused a breakdown in some countries .

During US President Donald Trump’s term, the United States suspended funding to UNFPA, largely due to concerns about abortion – depriving the fund of tens of millions of dollars over four years.