The African Union’s Commissioner for Social Affairs, Dr Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko has launched a new website for the Union’s Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal, Newborn and Child Mortality in Africa (CARMMA) – www.carmma.org.
The new website, which was developed by a team in the Department of Social Affairs aims at promoting maternal and newborn survival, and providing evidence on progress in achieving the targets African leaders have set.
The development of the website was funded by UK AID as part of the Evidence for Action (E4A) programme.
Launching the website, the Commissioner 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".
He said the website is a culmination of the work of many African and International champions of maternal, child and newborn health. It is the hope of the Union that, the website will bring together in one place, evidence and information on maternal, newborn and child survival across the continent.
Dr. Mustapha said "We also hope to showcase the champions that are working to give African mothers and their babies a future. He invited visitors to the site to identify individuals and send in stories, detailing their local, national or continent-wide maternal survival champions.
The AU Commissioner for Social Affairs said, "We are aware of the many men and women, health workers, officials, community leaders as well as political leaders who work on a day-to-day basis saving the lives of women and children.
"It does not matter who they may be and where they are located. We want to appreciate the role they are playing so send us a photo and story of these champions and we will do our best to feature them on this website. By this, we hope to bring together an army of CARMMA champions across the continent. Adding that "Africa Cares: No Woman Should Die While Giving Life"
CARMMA was launched in 2009 with the aim to trigger concerted and increased actions to improve maternal and newborn health and survival across the continent. CARMMA has been launched in 37 African countries including Ghana