FORUM: Human Rights Council I

QUESTION OF: Preventing Maternal and Infant Mortality in Developing Nations

SUBMITTED BY: Cuba

THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL I,

Deeply concerned that both the maternal and infant mortality rate are still significantly high in Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) despite the huge improvements made in the last 30 years,

Bearing in mind that 27 African countries still have female genital mutilation (FGM) and abortion that may threaten the life of the mother or the child,

Alarmed by the fact that there were 4.5 million infant deaths just in 2015, with developing countries responsible for about 99% of these deaths,

Reaffirming that the infant deaths have decreased from 8.9 million to 4.5 million deaths in just 25 years, showing endless possibilities with the cooperation of nations to prevent maternal and infant mortality,

Keeping in mind that despite the fact that830 women die everyday due to issues related to pregnancy, the global maternal mortality rated dropped by approximately 44% in 25 years,

Reassuring the Resolution of the Ending of Female Genital Mutilation formed in March 2007 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC),

  1. Urges the United Nations to extend the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, especially the goals to reduce infant mortality and improve maternal health in ways such as but not limited to:
  2. collaborating with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), such as Humanium, toreassure the best environment for mothers and newly born children in ways such as but not limited to:
  3. providing funding directed towards the development or access of advanced equipment to assist in the care of pregnant women and infant less than one year old
  4. providing basic nursery care during the time when the mother is still at her job by sending experts in areas of family care;
  5. encouraging nations to support and enforce US-endorsed policies that protect women’s reproductive rights, such as not limited to:
  6. right to birth control
  7. right to education to assist in helping women make independent choices
  8. freedom from coerced sterilization and contraception
  9. inviting high position officers of economic and medically developed nations to continue discussions on maternal and infant health in all countries, especially the developing countries, for purposes such as but not limited to:
  10. developing modern methods and facilities through the collaboration of experts in areas of women health and infant development to cover the basic health care of women and infants
  11. educating current and potential doctors and medical students of developing nations to assist in their own country
  12. educating the women in developing countries for the purpose of giving an opportunity for these women to control their own situations including potential pregnancy;
  13. Calls forthe World Health Organization (WHO) and Infants and Children (WIC), and NGOs to provide access to medicines and contraceptives for the betterment of women and future babies in developing countries with methods such as but not limited to:
  14. sending traveling agents to countries with high infant and maternal mortality ratesto carry certain contraceptives and medicines such as oxytocin, but this will be regulated through methods that include:
  15. providing license for the traveling agents or the people going to different countries to assist mothers and infants
  16. sending already certified agents along with the people interested in helping;
  17. setting up local factories in developing countries such as Afghanistan in order to:
  18. allow the quick access to contraceptives and medicines
  19. decrease the price of contraceptives and medicines;
  20. spreading awareness about the needs in terms of medicines and contraceptives in developing countries to allow possible donations or extra volunteers through different types of methods such as but not limited to:
  21. creating internet advertisements or educational websites to emphasize the importance of infant and maternal health
  22. urging the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to create advertisements about these developing countries’ situation with the issue of high maternal and infant mortality rate
  23. giving access to groups that make advertisements to publish their method of spreading awareness in public facilities;
  24. Encouragesgovernments and NGOs to collaborate in creating an international database using medical researches recognized by the WHO to provide a higher quality care in hospitals or homes through methods such as but not limited to:
  25. developing mobile or online applications that allow doctors to access the international databasewith information on medical treatments or operations, such as the mobile app called “Streams” that was founded by Google DeepMind AI and Royal Free Hospital London to make doctor treatments or operations much more efficient
  26. publishing important medical journal articlesregarding causes of maternal death, such as severe bleeding, infections, high blood pressure during pregnancy, complications during or after delivery, or abortion, onto government websites;
  27. Urges the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to fund the educational system in developing countries by implementing a mandatory sexual education class and allowing the teachers or educators who were trained specifically to educate students in developing countries to access the database to:
  28. prevent an uncontrollable high rate of fertility to limit the maternal and infant deaths
  29. educate both male and female students about reproductive health that includes:
  30. dangers of sexually transmitted disease such as HIV/AIDS, Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea, and possibly the Zika virus
  31. dangers of under-age pregnancy
  32. dangers of lack of birth space
  33. dangers of abortion
  34. use of contraceptives
  35. give an opportunity for women to have an independent choice to decide whether to take certain actions such as:
  36. receiving Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
  37. having multiple children at a young age
  38. attempting to have children at an old age;
  39. Encourages governments and NGOs to provide incentives for scientists and doctors, recognized by the WHO,to research methods to increase the nutrient consumptionof mothers and infants, such as but not limited to:
  40. researching the food engineering to increase genetically modified food for more efficient and cheaper nutrient consumption by looking at essential nutrients for mothers suchas Vitamin A, protein, and iron
  41. directly using the concept of biotechnology to create products such as:
  42. golden rice
  43. corn;
  44. Recommendsthe implementation of a public health care system with collaboration with the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), especially for the pregnant women in developing countries, through methods such as but not limited to:
  45. building facilities, such as local hospitals in order to:
  46. provide a chance to save children and mothers’ lives by decreasing the distance between houses and the local hospitals to guarantee that the “golden time” is not wasted
  47. assist in the the general health for the mother and the baby by providing available regular checkupswith collaboration with NGOs, such as Doctors Without Borders,on certain dangerous situations for women and infants, such as the Zika virus and other health problems;
  48. providing direct care for women during pregnancy with maternal support through ways suchas but not limited to:
  49. providing shelter
  50. providing anti-malarial drugs and insecticide-treated bed nets for mothers
  51. providing an opportunity for pregnant women and infants to sleep under mosquito nets by putting nets in at least 60 percent of malaria-endemic areas
  52. providing health services for women that have problems with smoking, alcohol, drugs, and obesity to prevent potential issues when giving birth;
  53. Calls for the regulation of child birth with respect to the individual rights of human beings through methods such as but not limited to:
  54. recommending mandatory contraceptive sale in every convenient store to avoid unwanted situations, such as unexpected pregnancy and short birth space
  55. implementing a recommended family plan program with experts in the areas of family planning to care for the mothers that are planning to become pregnant or who are about to give birth in order to avoid possible dangerous situations, such as abortion and early birth;
  56. Strongly urges the elimination of the use of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), that has no known health benefits, by improving or enforcing laws such as but not limited to:
  57. establishing criminal laws that prohibit the use of FGM forfemales under the age of 20 unless for medical use due to such side effects that this operation causes such as:
  58. recurrent infections
  59. chronic pain
  60. inability to become pregnant
  61. complications during childbirth
  62. fatal bleeding
  63. imposing strict penalties, depending on the country, on doctors who operated FGM for non-medical reasons without the consent of the recipient
  64. establishing appropriate monitoring in developing countries for the enforcement of the law, funded by NGOs, such as ActionAid International, International Society for Human Rights (ISHR), and Human Right Foundation (HRF).