Attachments
Introduction
Leave no one behind is the central, transformative promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals. It represents the unequivocal commitment of all United Nations Member States to eradicate poverty in all its forms, end discrimination and exclusion, and reduce the inequalities and vulnerabilities that leave people behind. Despite this commitment, discrimination, racism, sexism and intolerance continue to exist in all societies.
They manifest in disparities across health and development outcomes. In the case of maternal health in the Americas, the situation has worsened since 2016. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the maternal mortality ratio (MMR)b increased by 15 per cent between 2016 and 2020; in North America, the MMR increased by 17 per cent in the same period. The determining factors identified for this rise include increasing inequalities and social exclusion. Afrodescendent women and girls have been particularly hard hit.
This analysis aims to bring visibility to the disparities in maternal health outcomes faced by Afrodescendent women and girls. As we approach the end of the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015–2024), there is an urgency to act to address the adverse maternal health outcomes for Afrodescendent women and girls.