Zimbabwe Losing Its Women and Children
November 29th, 2009
Some 100 children under five years of age will die today in Zimbabwe, a bleak statistic that is part of new social development data released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the government, has revealed that the situation there for women and children has deteriorated in the past five years.
The data showed a 20 per cent increase in the mortality rate of children under five since 1990, with children in rural areas and those in the poorest one fifth of the population being the most vulnerable. Major causes of these deaths are HIV and AIDS, newborn disorders, pneumonia and diarrhea.
The survey showed that 1 in 2 pregnant women in rural areas were now delivering at home and that 39 percent nationally were not accessing the requisite medical facilities for delivery. Meanwhile, 40 percent where not attended to at birth by a skilled attendant posing huge dangers for both mothers and newborns.
UNICEF says that these findings confirm the result of previous research indicating that user fees and other financial barriers are limiting women’s access to life-saving obstetric services.
In addition, data from the national survey, which had a sample size of 12,500 households in Zimbabwe, revealed limited support to the country’s orphaned and vulnerable children, with 79 per cent not receiving any form of external assistance. Further, around two-thirds of all children in the country do not possess birth certificates.
