Celebration of the International Day of the Midwives in Afghanistan

Kabul, Afghanistan – 18 May 2021

The Afghan Midwives Association (AMA), Midwives, the Ministry of Public Health, partners and supporters of midwives celebrated the International Day of the Midwives (IDM) on 18 May 2021. Although this international date to recognize Midwives is 5 May, due to COVID-19 and Ramadan MoPH decided to postpone the event and celebrated on 18 May to allow the participation of over 100 midwives from different provinces of Afghanistan.

On behalf of the Government of Afghanistan, the keynote speaker of the event, Dr. Wahid Majroh, Acting Minister of Public Health, expresses his gratitude for the hard and important work of Afghanistan’s midwives. He stated that the Afghan Government will mark an award of honorary medal for midwives as well as promote the department of Midwifery and Nursing to the directorate levels. “Midwives fight for the rights of pregnant mothers in any and all situations whether; in cold weather or hot, whether in conflict or emergency situations, anytime and anywhere”, he said.

Dr. Majroh also announced that MoPH is going to change the name of Dasht-e-Barchi Maternity Hospital to Maryam Noorzad Maternity Hospital. This hospital was attacked in May last year  and among the victims, the midwife Maryam Noorzad lost her life.

UNFPA Afghanistan also invited four midwives to the event who manage the Family Health Houses in Daikundi and Bamyan provinces, located in the central highlands of Afghanistan.

The Afghan Midwives Association acknowledged the important work of midwives, the head of the AMA expressed that midwives are backbone of health system who provide reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health support to the children and mothers during the difficult emergency and conflict context of Afghanistan.

During the event, UNFPA shared the State of the World’s Midwifery (SoWMy) 2021 with the media. A number of key Afghan media outlets including Tolo News, Arezo, and Tamadon TVs as well as the Kabul Times Newspaper interviewed UNFPA regarding the midwifery situation in Afghanistan.

By: Zaeem Abdul Rahman