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“No Woman Should Die in Childbirth!”
U.S. Chargé Pledges her Support

Charge d’ Affairs, Anne Casper addressing the White Ribbon Alliance General Assembly

Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Kigali Anne Casper joined with First Lady Jeannette Kagame, Minister of Health Richard Sezibera, the African Union Ambassador for Maternal Health Dr. Mambo Shabalala Msimanga and many other concerned women and men in the launch of The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood’s Campaign for Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Rwanda on September 7, 2009 at the Serena Hotel in Kigali.  The White Ribbon Alliance is an international coalition of individuals and organizations formed to promote increased public awareness and action of the need to make pregnancy safe for all women.

Every year, almost 3000 women in Rwanda die in pregnancy, childbirth, and after delivery, according to the Alliance.

In her remarks to The White Ribbon Alliance General Assembly, Ms. Casper recounted a personal story of how she saw a young Rwandan woman almost die in a small hut because she did not go to a clinic or hospital to have her baby; hours after her labor began, she was saved by a chance visit and transported by car to a hospital, where she delivered her healthy baby boy by cesarean section.  On behalf of the U.S. government, which is committed to reduce maternal mortality in Africa, and as a result of this experience, Ms. Casper promised to work to raise the awareness of preventable deaths and “help inform women of the value of getting to a clinic or hospital in time to deliver their baby with a skilled health worker.”

The White Ribbon Alliance organized this campaign, which received U.S. government support through the United States Agency for International Development, in collaboration with the African Union.

Rwanda’s First Lady and Patron of the Rwandan White Ribbon Alliance Jannette Kagame spoke passionately about the need to reduce maternal mortality in Rwanda and throughout