UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Geri Halliwell To Visit Zambia To Support Maternal Health

November 12, 2006 – 10:34 pm | posted in Pregnancy, Women's Health / OBGYN

The United Nations Population Fund’s Goodwill Ambassador, British singer, Geri Halliwell (formerly of the Spice Girls), will visit Zambia from 14 to 16 November to promote greater international awareness of the urgent need to reduce maternal death and halt the spread of HIV/AIDS. Both aims are contained in the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the world’s leaders in September 2000.

Ms. Halliwell arrives in the country on 14 November and will have a brief meeting with the Minister of Health, Angela Cifire, and pay a courtesy call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mundia Sikatana.

Ms. Halliwell, who recently became a mother, will witness the life-threatening conditions in which poor women deliver babies, and support efforts to provide improved maternal health services.

“Every woman deserves to have her baby safely,” said Ms. Halliwell. “It is shocking that in this day and age, 1 in 6 women in the world’s poorest countries may die in childbirth.”

“Most of these deaths are preventable, all with simple and affordable services,” said Ms. Halliwell. “I look forward to this mission so as to witness and to express support for the prevention efforts possible in the developing countries. I want help empower women in Africa, as healthy and educated women have a direct effect on their economies.”

During the mission, Ms. Halliwell will visit projects supported by the Government of Zambia and UNPFA that address maternal death and illnesses. She will go to urban and rural health facilities around Lusaka. The Goodwill Ambassador will also visit the North-Western Province and meet with some of the women who benefit from UNFPA-supported initiatives.

“I want to listen to these women, understand their needs and give them a voice from Zambia which is asking for help to make the world a safer place for mothers giving birth,” said the UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador. “Every mother who dies in childbirth may leave behind an orphan. Every mother who dies is a death in our extended family, no matter where she happens to live in the world.”

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