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Zambia White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood

Profile of the Zambia White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood (ZWRASM) THE GLOBAL INITATIVE The Global Safe Motherhood Initiative (SMI) was launched at an International Conference held in Nairobi, Kenya in 1987. Its aim was to draw attention to disparities and consequences of poor maternal and child health especially in developing countries and to mobilize action to address high rates of death and disability arising from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. The primary goal of this Initiative was to reduce maternal and infant morbidity and mortality, two of the most important indicators in assessing a country's Safe Motherhood performance. Many developing countries accepted the action and put strategies in place to improve women's health specifically to reduce maternal and infant morbidity and mortality in their countries. However, it seems these strategies have made little impact; maternal and infant morbidity and mortality rates continue to rise unabated in many countries, including Zambia. ZWRASM FORMED IN ZAMBIA The Zambia White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood (ZWRASM) was formed in June 2000. The former Vice-President, Hon. Enoch Kavindele launched the white ribbon in Zambia at Mtendere Health Center in Lusaka on 4th March 2001. The main aim of ZWRASM is to raise awareness on maternal health issues among Zambians and to build partnerships with other government sectors, private organizations, business houses, other NGOs, CBOs and donors based in Zambia. The intention is to make safe motherhood become more visible and lead to more concerted efforts in addressing the tragedy of maternal morbidity and mortality.Hence, the government priority strategies of the 1980s and current strategies related to HIV/AIDS activities such as prevention of maternal to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV and Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) will be promoted through shared resources and experiences. Background to the White Ribbon Campaign The Global White Ribbon Alliance was formed by a number of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in an effort to raise awareness of the need to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for all women in both developed and developing countries. Through the Alliance, it is hoped that both international and local NGOs will collaborate in order to reduce maternal and infant morbidity and mortality through shared resources, experiences and expertise. The goals of the Alliance are: The goals of the Alliance are: • To raise awareness of safe motherhood among citizens, international NGOs, government agencies, and local NGOs and community-based organizations in developing countries. • To build alliances to save women's lives through broad-based partnerships among organizations and individuals representing a range of sectors such as health, education, human rights, religious, and government. • To act as a catalyst for action to address the tragedy of maternal deaths and expand current safe motherhood efforts current safe motherhood efforts (NGO Networks for Health, 2000 p. 2). "The White Ribbon is dedicated to the memory of all women who have died in pregnancy and childbirth, and of the total deaths that occur per day in the world". It is estimated that 98% of these deaths occur in developing countries. (NGO Networks for Health, 2000 p.1). The White Ribbon signifies the following: • It is a statement, an eye-catching symbol that signifies the health and well-being of women. • It sensitizes others about women dying in childbirth. • It symbolizes a collective approach to decrease maternal mortality. • The colour white symbolizes grief or death, but also hope. • The white ribbon places the issue in the spotlight. • The white ribbon is a statement saying, "Unsafe Motherhood is unacceptable" (NGO Networks for Health, 2000 p. 1). • In the light of the above, the Zambia White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood has decided to join the campaign through introducing the white ribbon in Zambia. With the support from the public sector, private sector, individuals, community and collaborating partners, Zambia will be one of the few countries in Africa to introduce the white ribbon to its citizens at large. KEY ACTIVITIES • Advocacy and lobbying of government and policy makers; • Establishing partnerships with the private and commercial sectors; • Social mobilization of the community for safe motherhood and other reproductive health issues; and • Mobilizing women, men and youths to address the problems facing them. • Capacity building of Alliance members and indirectly the community VISION Our vision is cultivate an enabling environment for improved women and children’s health, and making pregnancy and childbirth safer. MISSION ZWRASM seeks to contribute to the reduction of maternal morbidity and mortality through developing partnerships and strengthening the collaboration at community, district, province, national and international levels. This will be achieved through advocacy, awareness-raising, and capacity building of member organizations by the Alliance, combined with focused programmatic activities and community mobilization by individual Alliance member organizations. Overall Objective Contribute to the improvement of maternal and child health in Zambia. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES 1.To strengthen the capacity and mobilization for safe motherhood in Zambia utilizing a networking approach. 2. To help facilitate communication between members and to coordinate members working on collective activities. 3. To contribute to creating an environment in which safe motherhood activities are promoted and properly coordinated to ensure efficient use of resources for maximum impact. 4.To contribute to creating an environment in which health managers and decision makers effectively implement health programs ensuring quality, accessible health care for women and men to make pregnancy and childbirth safer. 5. To foster conditions where communities, families, and individuals will be able to plan for pregnancies and be able to handle emergencies to protect the lives of women and children. ZWRASM NATIONAL SECRETARIAT THE NATIONAL COORDINATOR NO. 8 NGUMBO ROAD LONGACRES PO. BOX 35944 LUSAKA ZAMBIA PHONE: 260-01- 256255 FAX: 253314 EMAIL: zwrasm@yahoo.co.uk