BACKGROUND
The African Union (AU) in 2009, responded to the crisis of high maternal deaths by placing maternal death firmly on its agenda and launched the Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA). CARMMA was launched on the 7th May 2009, during the 4th Session of the Conference of AU Ministers of Health (CAMH4) held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the campaign’s slogan was: ‘Africa Cares: No Woman Should Die while Giving Life’.

The Assembly of Heads of State and Government (Assembly/AU/Decl.2(XXIII) and Assembly/AU/18(XXIII)Add.3 resolved to, ‘’achieve Universal access to quality Maternal, Newborn and Child Health services by strengthening the implementation of the Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA)’’.

The campaign utilizes policy dialogue, advocacy and community mobilization to harness political commitment of member states towards improving maternal, child and newborn health (MNCH) as well as the survival of mothers, their newborns and children across the continent.

The CARMMA campaign has been under the guidance and leadership of three successive Commissioners of Social Affairs, namely; H.E Bience Gawanas (2002 - 2012), H.E. Dr. Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko (2012-2016) and H.E. Amira Elfadil (2017 to present). CARMMA observed its 10th anniversary in 2019, and over the decade 51 member states (except for Egypt, Libya, Morocco and South Sudan) have launched the CARMMA campaign. The campaign, through advocacy, has championed the maternal health, sexual and reproductive rights of women. In addition, the campaign placed emphasis on the sexual reproduction of adolescents. The CARMMA platform also enabled the African Union Commission to spearhead and prioritize maternal, child and adolescents health issues on the political agenda of member states, which further influenced the global agenda on women and children’s health.

The advocacy campaign had several successes that can be used to advance the maternal newborn and child health of Agenda 2063. It is globally recognized that fulfilling the rights of women and girls is central to development. The Commission as of 2012 ( Assembly/AU/Dec.494 (XXII)) produced status reports on maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH).The theme for the years reports; 2014, 2017 and 2019 were as follows; ’’Status report on Maternal New born and Child Health: Challenges for Inclusive and Universal Access’’, ‘‘Status report On Maternal Newborn Child and Adolescent Health: Focusing On Unfinished Business In Africa’’, and; ‘’Status report on the State of Health of the Mother, the Newborn, the Child and the Adolescent: Women and Children living in Humanitarian Crisis/Conflicts Contexts and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)’’ respectively.

The African Union Commission also convened its partners and stakeholders for the first International Conference on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in Africa in August, 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa under the theme; ‘’A Call to Action’’. It was acknowledged by the conference, progress made, and committed to reinforcing action on CARMMA. The key recommendation of the conference was to accelerate concrete actions for results delivery. The second action oriented international conference took place in 2018, in Nairobi, Kenya under the theme “Maintaining momentum and focus towards ending preventable maternal and child deaths by 2030 – Sustainable path towards Africa’s Transformation” provided an opportunity to take stock of the progress made in addressing maternal, newborn and child health issues in Africa, a number of innovative solutions were recommended to address maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH).

The CARMMA Campaign has a website to its credit (https://www.carmma.org) launched in 2012 and upgraded in 2019. The website and Social media tools such as Facebook (CARMMAfrica) and Twitter @CARMMAfrica have served as a critical communication and advocacy tools in promoting maternal and new-born survival strategies and providing evidence on the progress toward achieving the targets set by African leaders.

OBJECTIVES OF CARMMA

The main objectives of the campaign were to;

a. Expand the availability and use of universally accessible quality health services, including those related to sexual and reproductive health (SRH), which are critical to reducing maternal mortality.

b. Sustain radical reappraisal of practices, programmes and policies in order to improve maternal and child health and well-being in Africa transitioning from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

c. Use policy dialogue, advocacy and community mobilization to secure political commitment, increase resources (particularly domestic financing and investment) and solicit societal and behavioral change in support of MNCH.

CARMMA 10TH ANNIVERSARY AND WAYFORWARD

To mark the 10th anniversary of the CARMMA campaign an evaluation of the campaign was undertaken, the findings have provided recommendations that shall set the agenda for the next steps of the Campaign. The evaluation report is available online https://www.carmma.org, also at the Division of Health, Nutrition and Population of the Department of Social Affairs and the library of the African Union Commission, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Further information can be obtained from the Department of Social Affairs:

DepartmentofSocialAffairs@africa-union.org and from; Dr. Margaret Agama-Anyetei, Head of Division for Health, Nutrition and Population; Social Affairs Department; AU Commission; Tel: +251115162211; E-mail: Agama-AnyeteiM@africa-union.org
Media inquiry Contacts:

Ms. Esther Azaa Tankou, Head of Information Division, Tel: +251911361185, E-mail: yamboue@yahoo.com
For further information contact
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: dic@africa-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
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