Midwives Supporting Survivors of Gender-Based Violence in Burundi
This news item is from the International Confederation of Midwives website
Midwives providing lifesaving care in conflict and refugee settings
Midwives working in crisis-affected areas and refugee sites play a crucial role in providing medical and psychological care to survivors of conflict and GBV. Their work includes supporting antenatal and postnatal care, offering family planning services, ensuring systematic screening for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), providing newborn immunisations, and delivering sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education for young people.
Through their mobile clinics, midwives can reach all members of the community, and their distinctive pink jackets make them easily recognisable. Augustin Harushimana, President of the Midwives in Action Association (MAA) in Burundi, explains that over time people came to understand that they were midwives who offer holistic, person-centred care — not only for maternal and newborn health, but also for sexual and reproductive health services and first-line emergency response.
“Pregnancy continues during crises – so do our responsibilities” Augustin Harushimana, MAA President