Published and released on May 8, 2010 at 4:00pm

The President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaoré, has committed to lifting all financial barriers to emergency obstetric care and access to family planning, as part of a strategy to fight maternal mortality in the country.

President Compaoré expressed this commitment during a meeting with an Amnesty International delegation led by interim Secretary General Claudio Cordone, and following the publication of an Amnesty International report highlighting the barriers women face in Burkina Faso to receiving adequate health care during pregnancy and child birth.

"The lifting of financial barriers for emergency obstetric care, accompanied by improvements in the quality of care and family planning will significantly reduce the number of deaths and complications for women in child birth," said Claudio Cordone. "Every woman has the right to life and the right to health. No woman should die giving birth when her death could have been prevented."

While Amnesty International welcomes the openness and constructive engagement it has experienced from the government, we urge the government to make this oral commitment a reality.

In the past, the government adopted policies to subsidize the cost of maternal care by 80%. While it resulted in the building of healthcare facilities, an increased number of medical personnel, and the adoption of national family planning strategy, these policies suffered from major flaws in their implementation.

Maternal health services are still not available and accessible to all the women that need them. Many women are reluctant to go to health facilities to give birth, since many health facilities are unhygienic and understaffed, with medical personnel who often demand money and sometimes treat them disrespectfully.

On Saturday, May 8, a group of volunteers from Amnesty International Hong Kong (AIHK) held a signature campaign outside Metroplaza, Kwai Fong to honor these courageous mothers and to lobby the Burkina Faso government to take effective means to address maternal mortality.

“As a world class city with the lowest maternal mortality rate in the world, it is important for people in Hong Kong to help others be aware that it is possible to achieve rapid and dramatic progress in reducing maternal mortality. Awareness and information for women are of utmost importance, and with our collective efforts, we can push other governments to take decisive steps and keep their commitments, as in Burkina Faso”, says AIHK Director Milabel Cristobal.