This was the underlying message conveyed by The President of Malta Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, during a Merck for Mothers UNGA side event, organised together with TIME Magazine in New York City.
The President spoke on a panel which included renowned photojournalist Lynsey Addario, and Dr. Hara Tziouvara, a paediatrician-neonatologist with Doctors of the World, together with Dr Mary-Ann Etiebet, Director of Merck for Mothers.
President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca spoke about her own personal experience while Minister for Family, Children’s Rights and Social Solidarity Michael Falzon, in particular providing psycho-social support to a boat of refugees from Syria, many of whom had seen their families perishing in the Mediterranean.
The President affirmed that we are all responsible towards Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals, in particular she drew attention to SDG 3, Target 1, which states that “By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births.”
Furthermore, President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said that maternal health must be an integrated part of the upcoming UN Global Compact for Migration, which aims to provide a holistic migration action plan.
The President expressed concern that there are still too many barriers which prevent migrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking women from accessing effective and efficient maternal healthcare. These include: intersectional vulnerabilities as a result of ethnicity, language, culture and traumas experiences during their journeys.
Responding to a question from the floor, President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca stated that migrant maternal mental healthcare must be prioritised. The President said “we cannot allow stigma and silence to continue to surround vital issues of maternal mental health.”
Finally, the President commended Merck for Mothers, for its CSR initiative which has seen $500,000,000 put to use to address the needs of pregnant migrant women and their families adding that “Maternal Health is not a women’s issue, it is an issue of fundamental human rights.”