African Union Launches New Website for Evidence on Maternal, Newborn, and Child Survival in Africa

The African Union has launched a new website for its Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal, Newborn and Child Mortality in Africa (CARMMA).

According to the press release about the new site, the site aims to promote maternal and newborn survival, and provide evidence on progress to achieving health targets that have been set by African leaders.

In launching the site, the African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs, H.E Dr Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko, said:

The African Union continues to play a critical role in promoting issues of maternal, newborn and child survival and placing it high on the African political agenda. I am delighted, therefore, to be launching this website which is a culmination of the work of many African and International champions of maternal, child and newborn health.

With the launch of the CARMMA website we hope to bring together in one place evidence and information on maternal, newborn and child survival across the continent.

We also hope to showcase the champions that are working to give African mothers and their babies a future.

We invite visitors to the site to identify individuals and send in stories, detailing their local, national or continent-wide maternal survival champions (see details below). We know that there are many men and women, health workers, officials, community leaders as well as political leaders that are, on a day-to-day basis, working to save the lives of women and children.

It does not matter who they may be.  They might hold the highest office in the land, or perhaps they work as nurses, midwives and doctors.  They could be teachers educating girls and boys in safe motherhood, or district council officers ensuring safe and regular supplies for the clinic. Or they could be those, like the young owners of a motorbike or bicycle – who give up their leisure to ensure that a pregnant mother gets to the clinic in good time.

Whoever and wherever they are – if they are playing a role in saving mothers lives, then send us a photo and a story, and we will try our best to feature them on this site.

Visit the new site here.

Learn more about the history of CARMMA here.

To share the name of someone involved in saving the lives of mothers, newborns and children to be featured on the new site, please send details of the person and their story to kenneth.oliko@carmma.org.