From Risk to Rights: Realizing States’ Obligations to Prevent and Address Maternal Mortality

During the past several decades, sexual and
reproductive rights advocates have transformed the global community’s
understanding of maternal mortality and morbidity, framing it as a clear
violation of women’s fundamental human rights. This change has resulted from
the coordinated efforts of civil society to draw attention to this issue
through advocacy before human rights bodies, groundbreaking court cases, strong
political declarations, and the incorporation of maternal mortality into
development targets. This publication examines the process by which maternal
mortality and morbidity became recognized as a fundamental human rights
violation. To this end, it describes the causes of maternal mortality and
morbidity and summarizes the relevant human rights standards, political
declarations and development commitments. It further explores accountability
mechanisms that human rights advocates use to translate these into concrete
measures to realize the right to safe pregnancy and childbirth, provides
recommendations for future action, and includes a timeline of landmark events.