Indonesia Pushes for Better Health for Mothers and Babies in OWG

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - During the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights panel, one of the side evens of the 13th Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals, Indonesia underlined the urgent need to reduce the mortality rate of mothers and babies, and continued to push for such program to be included in the OWG outcome document.

Diah S. Saminarsih, Assistant of the Indonesian Presidential Special Envoy for Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) any provisions on reducing the mortality rate of mothers and babies that are agreed upon in a global stage plays an important part because it will be included in the national development agenda. Furthermore, the provision will also be applied on sub-national scale, starting from provincial level to sub-districts and villages.

Reducing the mortality of mothers and babies is an important target for Indonesia. Current mortality rate of mothers and babies, which is recorded at 359,000per 100,000 childbirth, has prompted the need to draft an integrated health objectives that include family planning, sexual health services for single women and teenagers, providing access to reproductive health services, and the inclusion of reproductive health as primary health services  in a universal health coverage.

"[…] There are many regions in the world, including Indonesia, where women do not understand their sexual and reproductive rights. […] [Therefore], focusing on sexual and reproductive health will provide significant effects on mothers', babies', and teenagers'health," Diah said.

In addition to discussing issues related to mother and babies' health, the 13th OWG also discusses other strategic issues such as climate change, biodiversity, deforestation, land degradation, and inequality. The OWG was established on January 2013 under the United Nations’ General Assembly decision No. 67/555.

MAHINDA ARKYASA