Source: Awoko
It has come out clearly that the government of Sierra Leone has not yet ratified the Moputo Protocol in July 2003 along with 52 other African countries. This failure to domesticate the Protocol geared towards promoting the fight against all forms of discrimination against women in society and ensures the rights of women in sexual and reproductive health (SHR) are guaranteed, has drew the interest of women rights activists.

Speaking on sexual and reproductive health and a recently held workshop in Parliament, the Country Director of Ipas-Sierra Leone, Valerie Tucker, said Article 14 of the said Protocol stresses the need for African governments to guarantee respect for and the promotion of women's rights as far as sexual and reproductive health are concerned. She noted that every woman has the right to proper and adequate health care services and the right to control their fertilities, the right to decide whether to have children or not and the number of children she wants to bear.

According to Valerie Tucker, it is important for every government to ratify the Maputo Protocol as it provides strategies in sustaining women's health. She explained that the Protocol stipulates that signatories "should provide adequate, affordable and accessible health services including information, education and communication programs to women especially those in the rural areas".

She also said that governments should also establish and strengthen existing pre-natal, delivery and post natal health and nutritional services for women in the country and protect women reproductive rights by authorising medical abortions in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest and where a continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the foetus.

It is estimated that almost three quarter of maternal deaths can be prevented if governments can increase women's access to comprehensive reproductive health services, including antenatal care and increased skilled birth attendants during child birth.

• Sierra Leone