PMNCH Annual Accountability Breakfast: Tackling Conflict, Climate Change and COVID-19

Decision-makers must be held accountable when it comes to safeguarding the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents. That was one of the resounding messages from the 11th PMNCH Annual Accountability Breakfast: Tackling Conflict, Climate Change and COVID-19, a virtual event on the sidelines of the United Nations’ General Assembly on 22 September 2022.

Over 1,100 registrants from more than 100 countries tuned in to watch a discussion, moderated by Maria Antonieta Alcalde Castro, Director of Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean about the "Triple C” threats posed to the health of women, children and adolescents in the Latin America and Caribbean region: conflict, climate change and COVID-19.

While these three threats are at play in the lives of many worldwide, experts — including Dr Christopher Tufton, Jamaica’s Minister of Health and Wellness, Cynthia Lopez Castro, a congresswoman in Mexico and Carissa F. Etienne Director, Pan American Health Organization — explained how the Latin America and Caribbean region’s experience with the “Triple C” threats differs.

According to the World Bank, it was the region hit the hardest by COVID-19. Tufton highlighted an unequal response and a lack of access to vaccines in the region compared to others. And, as home to the Amazon and the Andes, the impact of deforestation, warmer temperatures and sea level rises is being felt in unique ways while armed violence and conflict in countries such as Colombia and Brazil are driving further displacement.

At the same time, prior to the pandemic the region was already grappling with a maternal mortality ratio of 74 per 100,000 live births and an adolescent birth rate of 60.7 while 1 in 4 young women, as of August 2020, were getting married before 18 years of age.

COVID-19 disrupted efforts to tackle these protracted issues, said panelists at the event hosted by PMNCH and Every Woman Every Child LAC. In fact, the pandemic pushed back progress and exacerbated a number of these issues, explained Rt Hon. Helen Clark, PMNCH Board Chair and Former Prime Minister of New Zealand.

There has been an increase in substance abuse, mental health issues, domestic violence, and a backlog in lifestyle-related diseases in the region over the last few years, agreed Tufton. During the peak of lockdown measures, calls to domestic violence helplines increased by 91% in Colombia, 48% in Peru, and 50% in Panama.

A rendition of Cancion sin Miedo by Vivir Quintana during the event highlighted the violence that women in the region often face, either at the hands of partners or amid pockets of regional conflict. The song called for justice and support: “We sing fearless, we ask for justice. We shout for every missing woman.”

Climate change has also exacerbated such issues; something the region is all too familiar with. Hurricane season brings devastation to places like the Bahamas each year while countries such as Jamaica contend with rising sea levels. Simultaneously, conflict such as that ongoing in Haiti, said panelists, diminishes access to health care services, including sexual health and reproductive rights access.

But there’s also another “C” that speakers raised as a potential threat to women’s health; the rise of conservatism across the region. This has ramifications for access to abortion care and other sexual health and family planning services.

“Many countries’ — and the US is one — hard-won human rights are under enormous threats… spearheaded by a radical white allied with religious fundamentalists,” said Alvaro Bermejo, Director General at International Planned Parenthood Federation. “We need to look at this not just as a fight for abortion rights and bodily autonomy in isolation but one that brings in gender equality, that brings in young people’s right to information about sex and sexuality, that puts into question the right to live for those with diverse sexual orientation and gender identity.”

To combat the strain that the “Triple Cs,” or even the “Quadruple Cs,” are placing on women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health, panelists stressed the need for increased investment, innovation, and collaboration as countries in the region attempt to make progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 3. 

Such collaboration was highlighted in the session by a breakdown of the Spanish government’s support of the region as well as how private sector companies like Philips Latin America can help overcome the challenges with digital tools, such as its virtual care units supporting health workers in some of Brazil’s most rural areas.

Martin Chungong, Secretary-General, Inter-Parliamentary Union summarized the session with three calls to action for the development community: to create more public engagement, to increase regional cooperation, and to foster inclusive decision-making.

"We should be making sure that all these communities are at the table where decision-making is happening,” he said.

For the full event recording, partner resources, and other assets, go to www.accountabilitybreakfast.com.

Watch event recording