Carwyn beyond borders
Carwyn: pledges beyond borders
“I will build on Rhodri Morgan’s proud record on Wales’s contribution to fight poverty and inequality in Africa” he said after meeting with a leading charity worker and doctor, Angie Gorman, who runs the Hope for Grace Kodindo Trust and Sierra Leonean medic, Dr. Michael Tetti. They are campaigning to make birth safer in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ms.Gorman established the charity after seeing a BBC ‘Panorama’ programme about the number of women in Chad, who die from eclampsia in childbirth as a result of not having access to inexpensive doses of magnesium sulphate. She has worked in Chad, Liberia, Somaliland and Sierra Leone. In the latter life expectancy for women is around 42 years and less than half of pregnant women are attended by a suitably experienced birth attendant. The maternal mortality lifetime risk at 1:7, is currently the highest in the world.
Gorman and Tetti’s work has dramatically reduced maternal mortality rates in the country and Carwyn paid tribute to their work: “I am proud of Wales’ role in helping dedicated people like Angie and Michael, saves the lives of pregnant women in Africa. I know how valued and how far our aid money can go in helping the world’s poorest communities. As First Minister, I want to look at ways we can reduce the number of maternal deaths even further.
“It is clear, the Welsh Assembly Government’s ‘Wales For Africa’ programme is making a real contribution to help deliver the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to halve global poverty by 2015. That is why I will build on Rhodri’s proud record on Wales’s contribution to fight poverty and inequality in Africa.
“Likewise, on climate change, Wales is contributing to help developing countries understand and plan for the future. Climate change is a huge threat to the world’s poorest countries and I want to see Wales’ assistance to those nations, continued and strengthened into the future.”
With this pledge Carwyn is both seeking to extend the scope of his campaign to cover internationalism and also pledge to continue with a key priority of the incumbent First Minister.
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We don’t hear enough about Wales’ international development work and international affairs in general. It takes some digging to find that Wales has relationships with a lot of different countries, whether charity and community ties with unrecognised nations like Somaliland or formal education relationships with sovereign states like Cuba.
As a strategic partner with the Government of Sierra Leone, staff and volunteers at Health Unlimited in Sierra Leone, welcome all constructive inputs in reducing maternal and child health in Sierra Leone. We are always open to share our experience of working in Sierra Leone.