Effects of civil war on maternal and child health care in sub-Saharan Africa
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to investigate an issue of great concern in developing countries: the impacts of civil conflict on access to and use of health maternal and child health care services, in sub-Saharan Africa. In many ways the thesis is a response to the landmark United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and its call for greater knowledge about the impact of conflict on women and girls (UN SC 2000). In this thesis I will regard improvements in health as development in itself. This is in contrast to actors who see health improvements as a means to achieving greater (economic) development. I further argue that the different approaches to improving maternal and child health that are discussed by actors in the public health field and others are discussions of development strategies, although perhaps not conventionally defined as such.
The use of quantitative approaches comparing information across many countries was combined with more in-depth information from interviews in what is now South Sudan. Maternal and child health goals now figure prominently on the international development agenda, and are selected as Millennium Development Goals 5 and 4 respectively, but despite this focus there is still a very long way to go in order to secure adequate health care in the countries included in this thesis. Few of them will be able to reach the targets set by 2015.