Maternal mortality or the rate of teenage pregnancies has improved globally in recent decades, but has worsened “in an alarming number of countries," according to the latest UN population report. The progress made in women's sexual and reproductive rights has especially benefited the richest, those who belong to ethnic groups that already have better access to health care, and those who have received the most education.
The UNFPA document, Threads of Hope: Ending Inequalities in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, was published in the year that marks the 30th anniversary of the Cairo Conference on Population and Development. "Women's rights have not been prioritized" and, instead, their bodies are "politicized' as a weapon to "divide" society, said UNFPA executive director Natalia Kanem, during a meeting with journalists last Monday. Maternal mortality is, according to UNFPA, a reflection of the "disparity" that exists between and within territories. In Madagascar, the richest women are five times more likely to be assisted during childbirth than poor women. One in four women in the world still cannot say "no" to sex with their partner, and one in 10 cannot choose the contraceptive methods they want to use.