«How many mothers must die during childbirth? Or lack access to a proper education?» For Don Dante Carraro, the director of Doctors with Africa CUAMM, gender equality begins with having the courage to confront the silent tragedies taking place in Sub-Saharan Africa and to find shared solutions for tackling them, «Because you won’t get anywhere by going it alone».
He reiterated the point while speaking at a conference – “The Contribution of the Global Fund to Global Health within the Framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” – that was jointly organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Global Fund and Friends of the Global Fund and held yesterday at Italy’s National Institute of Health in Rome.
As he shared CUAMM’s experiences with the other conference participants, Don Carraro talked about the situation on the ground, the core focus of the Paduan NGO’s work.
«On average, South Sudan has just one obstetrician for every 20,000 women midwives. There’s no doubt in my mind that training and engaging local health workers and – even more importantly, women, families and the wider community – can play a critical role in fostering gender equality. There is much to be done, but the work is fascinating».
Don Carraro was joined in Rome by Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund; Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO); Beatrice Lorenzin, Italy’s Minister of Health; Tedros Adhanom, Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs; Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, Sudan’s Minister of Health; Walter Ricciardi, President of Italy’s National Institute of Health; Giampaolo Cantini, Director-General of Development Cooperation at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Laura Frigenti, Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation; and Benedetto Della Vedova, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, who announced that Italy will increase its contribution to the Global Fund by thirty percent – to €130 million – in the three-year period from 2017 to 2019.
Commenting on this news, Don Dante Carraro said:
«Plenty of work has been done to defeat malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS, but much remains to be done. CUAMM’s top concern and commitment is to help the most vulnerable and the neediest – first and foremost, mothers and children. And we know we can succeed in doing this if we continue working in partnership with local communities and authorities, and as part of an international network. That’s why gatherings like these are so important. We are convinced that carefully thought-out public and private partnerships can bolster the push for gender equality for everybody – women, men and families».
