As Indians celebrated the nation’s 78th Independence Day on August 15, its women cried for freedom on the same streets where their forebears shouted: “Vande Mataram” or “I salute thee, motherland.” That battle slogan was built for nonviolent resistance, and India’s women now stand united to fight against the continued violation of their dignity and their bodies.

Each day, almost 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. A maternal death occurs every two minutes. Maternal mortality is defined as the death of a woman from complications of pregnancy or childbirth that occur during the pregnancy or within 6 weeks after the pregnancy ends.*

At the opening of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York this past March,  UN Secretary-General António Guterres underscored the importance of stepping up national and global efforts to advance the rights of women. Guterres observed that “many women and girls are also facing a war on their fundamental rights at home and in their communities. Hard-fought progress is being reversed.”

Ongoing fighting in Sudan has led to a devastating humanitarian crisis that United Nations Humanitarian and Emergency Relief Chief Martin Griffiths calls “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history.”  

Among the millions of people harmed by the fighting are countless pregnant people and new mothers, who face direct and indirect threats to their health and lives in the country’s renewed conflict. Sudan was already suffering from a maternal mortality crisis prior to the onset of its latest civil war. Before the most recent round of bloodshed, Sudan’s maternal mortality rate stood at 270 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020 – higher than the global average of 223 deaths. And as this crisis worsens, it is imperative to call attention to what is occurring there.  

“There is a really important need in talking about knowledge equity around what is actually happening with the climate crisis, and what happens to maternal [and] neo-natal health as a result of it,” said Neha Mankani, Midwifery Association Capacity Assessment Strengthening Lead at the International Confederation of Midwives, at a recent Wilson Center event titled “Midwives Are Key to Climate Resilience.”

International organizations and media stories have showcased how civilian women and children have been the primary victims of the Israeli campaign to eliminate Hamas in Gaza in the last seven months. Yet, the focus has been on exactly that—women and children as victims of violence. Little thought has been given to what happens to Palestinian women and children in Gaza once the guns are silenced and it comes time not only to reckon with the unimaginable violence and hardship endured during the war but to rebuild their lives and communities.

This month marked the two-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. March, in the United States, is Women’s History Month and internationally, the world celebrates International Women’s Day, each year on March 8. In recognition of both the ongoing war and its effects on Ukrainian women and children, the Maternal Health Initiative reached out to Member of Parliament and Leader of the Holos Party, Kira Rudik as a follow up to conversations we had at the start of the war and at its one year anniversary.