By the Rasmus Prehn, the development minister S.
‘the Smile of a newborn baby can get every heart to melt.
It came to pass also for Her Royal Highness the crown princess and me, as we last week visited Indonesia together with the director of the UN Population fund (UNFPA), Natalia Kamen. We were on a visit to a Danish supported clinic, and stood in a small underexposed local.
the Midwife pulled slowly the green curtain to the side. Behind the curtain hid a young woman who had just given birth to a lovely little girl. Her daughter was thanks to the health clinic healthy and very smiling, and the mother shone, in the way that only new mothers do.
And we beamed with. Lykkestunden was not less to hear from the woman. She said with exhausted voice how much sundhedsklinikkens help had meant.
Jordemødrenes action in a country like Indonesia, which has a somewhat different culture than we have in the West, can mean the difference between life and death. Professional assistance before, during and after childbirth to reduce maternal mortality significantly.
In Indonesia the door two women in the hour of the mother’s pre – and fødselsrelaterede reasons. This corresponds to 305 mothers for every 100,000 births. For comparison, the figure in Denmark six. It is therefore an area that we in Denmark are doing much to support – both morally and economically.
the crown princess and I visited the post of The Indonesian Association of Midwives, where they are, to say the least was rich in heart-rending and quaint stories. And they could at the same time tell us about a frightening statistic; namely, that every other little newborn girl in Indonesia are the victims of fgm. Each other. I was shaken. Not least because Indonesia is gradually beginning to climb up velstandsstigen.
A local midwife told us his personal story behind the gruesome statistics. As part of her job she had previously circumcised the small girl child immediately after birth. It had hurt her every single time.
But at a time she kept simply up. She failed, however, to say it to the new mothers. She seemed like nothing. She pretended that was the case done. But the secrecy nagged her conscience. Eventually, she decided to fight the battle against circumcision is completely open. This is what I call courage. She stood up against the norms, traditions and religious interpretation. Certainly not without danger for the own situation.
This is the kind of matches we need to support. This is the kind of brave women and forces, we must support. And one of the foremost of, precisely what is our own crown Princess. Tirelessly
struggling, she to girls and women throughout the world should have the right to decide over their own body.
For one newborn girl has decided that she will be circumcised. All the world’s girls – and women – should have the right to determine for themselves whether they will marry, and when they will get married. They shall neither be married as children, or have children as children. Rather, they must in school. It should be quite simple – it should be a natural human right. In addition, it is also really good opinion. It is namely such that the communities, where women have the most influence and education, it is also those communities that are most happy, straight and innovative.
I am deeply grateful that there are brave women, as a midwife in Indonesia who are fighting the fight open and concrete. And I am grateful for women like crown princess and Natalia Kanem, who are struggling to get greater visibility on the challenges.
Denmark is to support both matches. And we should have more with. Just like we were, as we, together with Kenya was host at the conference the Nairobi Summit in October. Here we got more than 170 countries to give concrete commitments on how they will promote girls and women’s health and rights. F. ex. will Kenya to completely prohibit circumcision by 2021. It is strong. And I am sure that both the crown princess and I are going to keep them all up again and again in the coming years.
