PEACE VIGIL: 12/07/15

Monday, December 7, 2015

New UN ‘bedside tool’ will help prevent and reduce maternal and newborn deaths worldwide

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced a new checklist for healthcare workers that will help reduce maternal and newborn deaths with “a single and practical bedside tool” designed to make a difference for women and infants in various settings around the world. “Worldwide, the majority of maternal and newborn deaths occur around the time of birth, typically within the first 24 hours after childbirth,” WHO said in its announcement. “Most of these deaths are preventable,” the agency stressed. The agency’s new Safe Childbirth Checklist and Implementation Guide targets the major causes of maternal and newborn complications and deaths, including post-partum haemorrhage, infection, obstructed labour, preeclampsia and birth asphyxia.“Far too many women and children are still dying in childbirth from preventable causes often linked to poor quality of care,” according to Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO Assistant Director-General, Health Systems and Innovation. “The WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist will help health care workers follow the essential care standards for every birth.”WHO said of the more than 130 million births occurring each year, an estimated 303,000 result in the mother’s death, 2.6 million in stillbirth, and another 2.7 million in a newborn’s death within the first 28 days. The majority of these deaths occur in low-resource settings, often lacking skilled birth attendants, it said.The checklist “synthesizes existing evidence-based WHO guidelines and recommendations into a single and practical bedside tool targeted at improving adherence to best practices, including adequate communication around the time of delivery,” the agency said.WHO said the checklist was first piloted for usability in nine countries in Africa and Asia.In September, all countries agreed to a new set of Sustainable Development Goals, which include targets to substantially reduce global maternal and newborn deaths.To advance this agenda, WHO and partners also launched a new Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health 2016-2030, a roadmap for countries on what evidence-based investments and actions are required to end the preventable deaths of women, children and adolescents’ and to improve their overall health and well-being.The checklist was developed and tested in partnership with Ariadne Labs, a joint centre of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52732#.Vmc3kF7eums

Yemen: peace talks to start next week among warring parties, regional actors, says UN envoy

“We strongly believe that the only way to end the suffering of the Yemeni people and to rebuild confidence, trust, and mutual respect is through peaceful and inclusive dialogue,” the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, told reporters in Geneva.The Special Envoy said that both the Government of Yemen, the Houthis and other relevant parties have committed to participate in the talks, which he will chair and will also include eight negotiators and four advisors for each delegation. The talks are also set to secure improvements in the humanitarian situation and a return to a peaceful and orderly political transition.He added that the aim is to develop a plan for the implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, including a measure adopted in April 2015 which demanded that all parties, in particular the Houthis, immediately and unconditionally end violence and refrain from further unilateral actions that threatened the political transition.According to the Special Envoy, implementing the relevant texts will bring the country back to a peaceful and orderly transition based on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Initiative and the outcomes of the national dialogue.Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed thanked all the participating stakeholders of the discussions for their conciliatory and courageous attitude and their commitment to bring a lasting peace to Yemen, and added that he was “very optimistic” of the parties reaching a permanent ceasefire.“I call upon the parties to engage in good faith in search of a durable political solution for Yemen which meets the legitimate aspirations of Yemeni people for peace, stability, and prosperity,” he stressed, adding that making peace requires “a lot of courage, personal sacrifice and tenacity.” Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that he had been strongly encouraging the parties to work on confidence building measures, including implementing a ceasefire, releasing prisoners, and facilitating the delivery of humanitarian supplies that would constitute positive steps in the efforts to lessen tensions and ease the path to a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Yemen. “On behalf of the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, I call on the parties to adhere to a ceasefire effective 15 December in order to create an environment conducive to peace talks, save lives and give hope to the Yemeni people,” the Special Envoy concluded.

Libya: UN envoy urges endorsement of political agreement as way forward for ‘peace in unity’

“The country needs peace in unity, it is divided now,” Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Martin Kobler told Aljazeera International on 6 December. The Agreement is supported by the majorities of both House of Representatives and the General National Congress. According to UNMSIL, Mr. Kobler urged even those who still opposed the Agreement to support it as an opening to unite the country, fight the scourge of terrorism and address the deteriorating economic situation in Libya.“It is now time for a rapid endorsement of the Libyan Political Agreement. The train has left the station,” said the UN envoy. An upcoming global conference in Rome aimed to unify Libya will be co-chaired by Italy, the United States and the UN and server as an opportunity to demonstrate the determination of the international community on the way forward on the basis of the Political Agreement.
Libya has been plagued by factional fighting since the 2011 revolution, with the situation continuing to deteriorate in recent months amid significant political fragmentation and violence. Following broad consultations facilitated by the Secretary-General’s former Special Representative for Libya, Bernardino León, it was announced in mid-October that a national unity government could be proposed. The names of candidates for the government's top council were put forward but the deal stalled when some parties failed to sign off. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52748#.Vmcz217eums