Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-09-03-Speech-3-257"
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"en.20080903.24.3-257"2
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".
Mr President, I have now been a parliamentarian for nine years and, in that time, have had two children. They are now aged two and almost eight. Pregnancies are always full of suspense, of course – you always wonder whether the child will be born perfectly healthy – but I can honestly say that in neither of those pregnancies did I ever wonder whether I myself would survive. What a tremendous luxury that is!
The figures have already been cited. In Europe, fewer than 1 in 3 800 women die from pregnancy-related causes, but the figure is very much higher in some African countries: 1 in 16. The figure of 1 in 7 has been mentioned for Niger. One reason for this is unsafe abortions. I do wish these were not a reality, but this would require changes such as the provision of contraception or restraint on the part of men. Further reasons are a lack of medical assistance or delays in providing such assistance, and too many pregnancies one after another and at too young an age.
The wide discrepancies between the situation in Europe and in a great many of these other countries show that investment pays off. It is self-evident: investment in health care reduces maternal mortality. Yet very little is happening in this regard. In 1987 approximately half a million women a year died in pregnancy or childbirth and this figure was unchanged in 2008 – this is most disappointing. I make no secret of my cynicism. My feeling is that much more attention is paid to combating AIDS because this claims the lives of men, too. However, I am encouraged by what Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner and also the President-in-Office had to say, and wish to thank the Commissioner most warmly for her speech.
There is a clear link between maternal mortality and self-determination. According to recent research, approximately 200 million women in developing countries would very much like to bear fewer children, but half of these have no access to contraceptives and sexual information. This results in 52 million unwanted pregnancies a year, and this is something we must be concerned about. According to Kofi Annan, the fight against hunger and poverty is doomed to failure from the outset if the international community does not succeed in strengthening women’s rights. We, the European Union, are in a unique position to strengthen the call for equal rights for women worldwide. We do want this, but are actually shirking our real responsibility.
Therefore, I should like to put the case for a European Envoy for Women’s Rights. The majority of this House has already welcomed this, and I would also ask for the Commissioner’s support. This will be a top diplomat who can raise her voice on behalf of the EU or mediate in cases of violence towards women, who will submit proposals to the Council of Ministers and the European Commission and who will be accountable to the European Parliament. It is a driving force that we need, someone who ensures that all our proposals take account of women’s rights, as this is so crucial.
Mr President, I have already presented this proposal to a representative of the French Presidency. He said that he considered it interesting. I should like to ask the President-in-Office what he is going to do about this. I have the proposal here, including in French and German. I shall hand it over to him, and I sincerely hope that this Envoy for Women’s Rights will be introduced, as we really need this driving force to effect real change."@en1
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