Amnesty International Clubs’ contest fights maternal mortality
By Cristina Chang
Oct. 14, 2010 3:30 a.m.
Erika Solanki was at Amnesty International’s Annual General Meeting in September when a Berkeley student approached her with an innovative idea to combat maternal mortality.
Stacy Suh, the advocacy director of the UC Berkeley chapter of Amnesty International, hoped to leverage school spirit from both campuses to publicize the issue of maternal mortality through a petition drive in support of the Global Maternal and Newborn Health Outcomes While Maximizing Successes Act, said Solanki, co-president of Amnesty International at UCLA and a third-year international development studies student.
The Global MOMS act would require the president to develop a plan for reducing maternal mortality and call for more comprehensive support among federal health agencies to improve maternal and newborn health. Although UC Berkeley completed its drive last week, the UCLA chapter spent this week asking students on Bruin Walk, in Bruin Plaza and in the residential halls to sign a petition to support the legislation.
Solanki said she hopes the petition drive will be as effective as the chapter’s campaign on human trafficking that took place last year.
For Solanki though, the drive is also part of the organization’s push to declare maternal health a human right and create an office of maternal health with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Milagros Villalobos, the other co-president of Amnesty International, said two to three women die each day in America because of pregnancy-related complications that may be easily preventable, such as bacterial infection, unsafe abortions and cardiovascular diseases.
For Villalobos, a fourth-year political science and Spanish student, the 90 percent of maternal mortalities that occur in developing nations could be lessened if more affordable and accessible health care could be offered to these women.
“Maternal mortality is (a) relatively unknown issue because we live in the U.S. and we assume that everyone has adequate health care,” said Villalobos.
Suh, the second-year political science and English student at UC Berkley who suggested the competition, said she came up with the idea after thinking about the Berkeley homecoming game against UCLA, which took place Saturday.
She hoped to capitalize on the “friendly competition” between the two campuses through gathering petition signatures. During the campus’ drive last week, students even held “Beat UCLA” signs to garner more support.
“People ask us why we’re holding the signs in the middle of nowhere, so we explained it,” Suh said. “Having the signs out was to really maximize the feeling of homecoming week.”
Suh said about 350 students have signed the UC Berkeley chapter’s petition. The UCLA chapter surpassed that mark on Monday with more than 400 signatures, and after dorm-storming on Tuesday, Solanki said the chapter tallied at least 800 signatures.
The new goal is to reach 1,500 signatures by Friday, Solanki said.
Suh said by targeting a broader audience rather than those typically interested in human rights, the organization has already exceeded its initial goal of making students realize that anyone can get involved in human rights, whether it’s by holding a sign or signing a petition.
“UCLA Amnesty did an amazing job (on the petition drive), and hopefully the Berkeley chapter can redeem itself by doing another collaborative event in the future,” Suh said.
