ALEXANDRIA: On Tuesday, Ambassador Melanne Verveer, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, announced in Alexandria a new partnership between the United States, Afghanistan and Egypt to train 30 Afghan midwives at the Suzanne Mubarak Regional Center for Women's Health and Development. Ambassador Verveer said that “this US-Egypt-Afghan partnership is a milestone in international collaboration between Afghanistan and Egypt and will empower young women who are dedicated to serving their country.” The two week “Safe Motherhood” program will take place in Alexandria and include multimedia and hands-on instruction to enhance the knowledge and skills of Afghan nurses and midwives in order to enable them to provide better care to women throughout their child bearing cycle. The US Embassy in Egypt said the program will seek to diminish the maternal morbidity and mortality of women before, during, and after pregnancy, as well as those of their newborn children. The work of midwives is critical to the health care system of Afghanistan. “The maternal mortality ratio in Afghanistan is the second highest in the world. Every 27 minutes a mother dies, and 77 percent of maternal deaths are due to avoidable factors. The neonatal mortality ratio is also high with 60 newborns out of every 1,000 dying in the first month of life,” the statement from the embassy said. The partnership is supported by the United States Agency for International Development in Afghanistan. BM
