International Women’s Day

My Lords, one has only to look around this Chamber to see what can be achieved by women in their various fields, given the opportunity. However, I want to use this debate to remember all those women worldwide who have not had those opportunities. Education was a given for our generation. We all accept nowadays that education, and education of girls in particular, is linked to the economic growth and development of third-world countries; the millennium development goals illustrate this. However, in developing countries many women have their lives ruined by poor health. I have received good healthcare throughout my life and was able to continue my career and bring up my children, but my sisters in the third world have no such luck. Men between the ages of 15 and 44 face no single threat to their health and lives that compares to pregnancy and childbirth and its complications, yet millennium development goal 5, which calls for improvement in maternal health, has progressed the least. Women’s empowerment and investment in girls’ education are smart economics, but they will be no use unless women are able to bear children in greater safety. I declare an interest as a long-time officer of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health. Last year we reflected on the work that Sarah Brown is doing with the White Ribbon Alliance to promote maternal health. We often hear that, because of the lack of simple obstetric care, a woman dies every minute—that is half a million women dying every year. We have to add to this figure the millions of women in developing countries with permanent disability and ill health following childbirth whose lives, and those of their families, are ruined every year. Reflecting on this carnage, I asked last year whether these women would not be better off dead and "Better off Dead?" became the title of the all-party group’s report on maternal morbidity. Obstetric fistula and/or total prolapse caused by obstructed labour over days reduce usually very young women to stinking wrecks, who take little part in family life and work afterwards. They are sometimes driven out of the family home altogether. The luckier ones, maybe, are allowed to live in a hut in the yard with the animals. Some develop contractures and limb disabilities due to lying curled up in a cramped space. Female genital mutilation often contributes to this—the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, has mentioned that and I must also pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Rendell, who has campaigned so hard on the issue. Added to these conditions are untreated eclampsia, chronic anaemia and infections, unsafe abortion, haemorrhage and, of course, chronic mental health disorders. They are all mostly preventable and treatable conditions. This is maternal morbidity. Why does the world continue to let this happen? If men suffered in the same way, even the poorest countries would have done something about it by now. Lack of political will, few women in positions of influence and the low status of women mean that scant attention is paid to the problem. What is needed is the provision of simple, cheap drugs such as magnesium sulphate and Misoprostol, better trained health attendants, safe abortion and, above all, family planning to end the drudgery of large families. There is a huge unmet need for family planning; do not let anyone persuade you that there is not. Those countries that heard the message and acted on it are already getting close to the millennium development goals. Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Malaysia have done well but even Bangladesh, with all its problems, is bringing down its family size because of the good provision of family planning services. I could speak for a long time; sadly, I do not have that time. We in our fortunate lives must make much greater efforts to ensure that women the world over share our good fortune. My Lords, read our report and press for action.