Better maternal health a noble goal

Mandera in north-eastern Kenya has often been described as ‘the worst place on earth to give birth’. Mandera’s maternal mortality ratio stands at 3,795 deaths per 100,000 live births; almost double that of wartime Sierra Leone at 2,000 deaths per 100,000 live births.

But Mandera also demonstrates what can be achieved with strong political leadership and strategic partnerships. Just under a year ago, on December 2, 2014, we were part of a team from the United Nations, World Bank, charities and the Office of the President of Kenya that took the two-hour flight to Mandera to determine what could be done to address this critical development bottleneck.