This brief outlines the steps that parliamentarians can take to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths in East and Southern Africa.
In the region, more than 49 million women who want to plan their families cannot get access to modern family planning. An estimated 830 women and adolescent girls die needlessly every day because of complications in pregnancy and childbirth.
Projections show that the UNFPA Supplies programme can cut unintended pregnancies by 32 per cent (modern contraceptive use prevented an estimated 15 million unintended pregnancies in 2021); prevent an additional 32 per cent unsafe abortions (modern contraceptive use prevented an estimated 3.6 million unsafe abortions in 2021); and lower maternal and child deaths by 33 per cent. These investments will save more than 31 per cent in direct health-care costs. To achieve this, the region would need to spend $1.5 billion.
UNFPA is partnering with governments to finance contraception and family planning. Members of Parliament (MPs) are important for the success of these partnerships as they ensure government commitment to contribute domestic financial resources to buy medicines and other supplies. MPs are critical for mobilizing and allocating government resources (national budgets, appropriate legislation, Compact Agreements, etc), and for using their goodwill with the private sector and other partners to raise additional local funds.
