Data published on February 17, 2026, by the World Health Organization reveal an unbearable reality: in 2023, 160,000 women died from pregnancy-related causes in conflict zones or areas of extreme fragility. In these countries, the risk of dying in childbirth is five times higher than in stable states. This disparity is not medical; it is political. Bombed hospitals, healthcare workers forced into exile, insufficient humanitarian funding: each death is the result of a system that abandons women at the most critical moment of their lives. No war justifies motherhood becoming a death sentence.
As the international community struggles to respond to multiple crises, human rights advocates are sounding the alarm over new WHO data published on February 17, 2026. Fragility and conflict have become the primary drivers of preventable maternal mortality, with 160,000 women dying in 2023 in these contexts alone, representing a silent but massive collapse of women’s rights worldwide.
These figures are not mere statistics; they represent faces, names, and shattered families. A woman fleeing the fighting in Sudan or attempting to give birth in a hospital without electricity in Haiti is no less valuable than a woman in Europe, yet her risk of dying in childbirth is ten times greater. This is a form of health apartheid that the international community can no longer ignore.
The WHO’s analysis is unequivocal: in stable countries, the maternal mortality rate is 99 per 100,000 live births, while in conflict zones, it soars to 504. Behind this statistical abyss lies a stark reality on the ground, witnessed daily by our correspondents: hospitals in ruins or targeted by attacks; an exodus of healthcare personnel leaving women without any qualified assistance; and women left to fend for themselves, trapped by barriers, insecurity, or forced displacement, without access to prenatal care or emergency obstetric services. A hemorrhage that can be treated in minutes in a stable country becomes a death sentence in a makeshift camp. A 15-year-old girl in a war zone has a 1 in 51 chance of dying from pregnancy-related causes during her lifetime. This is not inevitable; these are lives sacrificed on the altar of indifference and underfunding of humanitarian aid.
Faced with this disaster, the ADH commends the resilience of local communities and healthcare workers and calls for urgent mobilization. The example of Ukraine, where maternal mortality remains low despite the war, proves that protecting healthcare services works. Everywhere, courageous midwives are fighting to save lives, often without equipment or pay, but with incredible dedication. However, this resilience has its limits as needs skyrocket and humanitarian funding stagnates or even declines.
In Africa, the situation is particularly alarming, as the continent alone accounts for the majority of global maternal deaths, a significant proportion of which occur in countries affected by armed conflict or widespread political instability. In several regions of the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes region, already fragile health systems are further weakened by insecurity, massive population displacement, and chronic underfunding. Access to prenatal care, skilled birth assistance, and emergency obstetric services remains limited, particularly in rural or besieged areas. Thus, beyond medical factors, maternal mortality in Africa reflects deep-seated structural inequalities, exacerbated by humanitarian crises, which expose millions of women to avoidable risks during childbirth.
The ADH therefore calls on heads of state and international donors to end impunity for attacks against health facilities and personnel, which deprive women of their fundamental right to safe care, and to urgently fund maternal health services in humanitarian response plans, including the deployment of midwives and mobile clinics in the most dangerous areas. It also recommends systematically integrating maternal health into civilian protection mechanisms and multi-year funding frameworks, in order to ensure continuity of care beyond the immediate emergency and to sustainably strengthen local health systems.