The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) has called for a multi-sectoral response to ensure continuity of services for women, children, and adolescents in conflict and humanitarian settings.
The call was made in a recent press release by PMNCH to commemorate the World Immunisation Week 2022, themed “Long Life for All – in pursuit of a long life well-lived.”
Marleen Temmerman, Director of the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health at Aga Khan University East Africa and PMNCH Board Member, said, “In chaotic and desperate situations caused by conflicts, health and aid workers are key players in the protection and assistance system in distressing humanitarian contexts. Their intervention nurtures the hope of the right to health and well-being among victims and affected populations.”
Temmerman further said that “the harms and losses caused to health and aid workers in conflict zones call for a multisectoral and equitable response. It is time to act to protect those who protect the health and well-being of women, children, and adolescents, even in perilous security contexts.
“It is time for all actors involved in the humanitarian field to take concrete and innovative actions so that health and aid workers no longer suffer damage, no longer lose their lives while carrying out their mission.”
PMNCH also urge global leaders to commit to greater investment in safety and protection measures for health and aid workers who risk their own lives striving to provide services, support, and care to vulnerable women, children, and adolescents in the most challenging circumstances.
On Thursday, 19 May 2022, Lives in the Balance: Delivering on Commitments in humanitarian and fragile settings will bring together representation from governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, health professional associations, youth-led organizations, and grass-roots campaign groups to explore what form a global response to these challenges should take.