Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister Samura Kamara addresses ICDP Conference at the UN

Foreign Minister Dr. Samura Kamara on Wednesday  addressed the International Conference on Population and Development ( ICPD ) at the margins of the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Full statement coming.

In brief, this was what the Minister said :

SAMURA M. W. KAMARA, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sierra Leone, said that his country had made progress according to its 2013 Demographic and Health Survey, despite the dark shadow being cast by the recent outbreak of Ebola, for which the country was ill-prepared.  Positive strides had included a decrease in fertility rates due to modern family planning, and antenatal care by skilled birth attendants increased from 87 per cent to 97 per cent. 

Additionally, the use of insecticide treated nets had doubled for children under five from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, reducing malaria infection.  Sierra Leone knew it needed to scale up its efforts to reduce maternal and childhood mortality, and had thus introduced free health-care services for pregnant women.  –

See more at: http://icpdbeyond2014.org/whats-new/view/id/122/speakers-call-for-greater-global-efforts-in-implementing-goals-of-1994-icpd-as-ga-reviews-progress#sthash.qW73SxMa.dpuf