“A woman is the full circle, within her is the power to create, nurture and transform”

In Ireland, our children go to school every morning. They don’t have to worry about violence or civil war when they walk down the street. They can access health care, support and welfare should they need it. There is support for Mothers and Carers.  In Mozambique, 1 in 17 children die before their 5^th birthday from many preventable diseases. 90 children are infected by HIV every day through mother – to – child transmission, despite continuous expansion in the number of health centres providing services of mother – to – child HIV prevention and Anti-retro-viral medication.

In Save the Children’s State of the World’s Mothers Report (2015), Ireland is ranked as the 22^nd best place worldwide to be a mother. The lifetime risk of maternal death stands at 1 in 5,500 with an under 5 mortality rate of 4 per 1,000 live births. In Mozambique (ranked 144th) the maternal death stands at 1 in 41, the under 5 mortality rate stands at 87 per 1,000 live births.

Worldwide,  17,000 children die before their 5^th birthday every day.

Child mortality rates are often reflected by the health status of their mother. However, women are often the victims of hunger and poor health. In times of food insecurity (drought, famine, war etc.), their access to aid can be undermined by gender based discrimination. Also, when a crisis hits, women are usually the first to sacrifice their food consumption, in order to protect the food consumption of their families. In some countries, tradition dictates that women eat last, after all the male members and children have been fed. These barriers, along with restricted access to jobs, income, land, agricultural inputs and other resources, means it is an everyday challenge for women in the majority world to feed their families.

Having a baby should be a time of great joy and hope. In 2015, 303,000 women died from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. That’s one mother dying every 2 minutes. 830 each day.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Most of these deaths are entirely preventable. SERVE works to tackle these issues and support women and mothers in the majority world.

Read about our work in Mozambique where 75% of people who collect water from wells are women. In the Philippines, we are supporting mothers and children through the community empowerment project with the Badjao Tribe in which they are participating in basic literacy education, skills training and nutrition programmes. In Zimbabwe, we are supporting girls and women to learn employable skills, life skills and to break down gender stereotypes to follow their dreams.

Today we want you to use your voice to stand up for women we work with in the majority world who are:

• Working to protect young girls from early child marriage in Mozambique and Zimbabwe
• Trying to make ends meet and feed their children in the squatter camps in South Africa
  

  This mother in Zimbabwe brought her baby to the rural skills training every Saturday as she could not afford childcare. Attending class to gain employable skills will ensure that her child has a brighter future.

• Trying to overcome barriers preventing them from sending their female children to school
• Playing the main role in looking after their disabled children in India
• Working to protect their children from mother – to – child HIV transmission in South Africa
• The main labourers on farms in rural Africa, but are paid less, have little to no land, and no voice

For millions of mothers worldwide, helping ensure the survival of their babies would be the greatest Mothers Day gift of all. By raising awareness of SERVE’s work with different partners overseas, donating or simply sharing the message, you are contributing to change and to our work of working towards a just and equal world.