President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca is in New York, where she spoke on the importance of tackling maternal health workdwide at Merck for Mothers forum, organised together with Time Magazine.

The President spoke on a panel which included  photojournalist Lynsey Addario, and Hara Tziouvara, a paediatrician-neonatologist with Doctors of the World, and Mary-Ann Etiebet, director of Merck for Mothers.

The President spoke on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the target to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030.

"800 pregnant women die each day. We must take action now," she said. 

The President said maternal health must be an integrated part of the upcoming UN Global Compact for Migration, which aims to provide a holistic migration action plan.

She expressed concern that there are still too many barriers which prevent migrant, refugee, and asylum-seeking women from accessing effective and efficient maternal healthcare. These include: intersectional vulnerabilities as a result of ethnicity, language, culture and traumas experiences during their journeys.

“We cannot allow stigma and silence to continue to surround vital issues of maternal mental health.”