The country’s First Lady Gertrude Mutharika has called upon the Pan African Parliament to make the fight against maternal health a core priority.

Madam Mutharika made the call on Thursday Thursday when she officially opened this year’s Pan-African (PAP) Women Parliamentarians Conference at the PAP headquarters in Midland, Johannesburg, South Africa.

In her speech, Mutharika suggested that National Parliaments should pass budgets that carry adequate funds for improving maternal health and a need for robust infrastructure and institutional arrangements that can support the fight against maternal deaths.

“This is a war that is already being won, and together we must conquer the vice. We must ensure that no African woman dies while bringing out life and that maternal mortality be reduced to Zero,” she said.

She said the Pan African Parliament has an important mandate to make practical suggestions for ending wars, violence and instability which is reversing developmental gains on the continent.

The First Lady also called for practical approaches to curb the rise in violence against women in Africa.

This year’s Conference is held under the theme ‘Ten Years of Existence of the PAP; Reflections on Its Role’ and it has been organized in line with the obligations of PAP to promote the principles of human rights and democracy in Africa as stipulated in articles 3(2) and 3 (4) of the PAP constitution.

The two day Conference is expected to address issues relating to the social economic and political empowerment of women in Africa, maternal health, people and security as well as prevention of all forms of violence against women in Africa.