Once you focus on reducing maternal mortality you have to address poverty by making healthcare accessible to pregnant women by making healthcare free,” she said adding that the lack of integrated policies creates a situation where various ministries work in conflict with each other. She suggests that the only way to overcome this is by advocating for a stronger social policy framework

The problem is that there are currently “very many fragmented policies,” within the government. “If you look at the Ministry of Health, they talk about reducing maternal mortality while the Ministry of Education is talking about free education. It is disjointed on all sides,

As a ministry, we are committed to reducing poverty especially among girls and women and ensuring that gender disparity which perpetuate inequality is reduced if not eliminated. We must make people aware of the laws and ensure these laws are implemented

I don’t think that maternal and child health is a global priority. The health and welfare of mothers and their children received unprecedented international attention in 2010, but not all Governments were involved and other issues subsequently knocked this issue off the top slot. For those Governments who did make specific policy and resource commitments, the role of civil society is to work hard to get them to deliver. However, to see a truly seismic shift in the life chances of mums-to-be and their babies, Governments — rich and poor — must tackle inequality, especially gender but also income.

It is almost enough to make one's jaw drop to think that officials at the World Bank and the IMF would suggest that they have poverty alleviation in mind when they force governments to withdraw subsidies that enable poor people to get clean water to drink. If this is a policy aimed at helping the world's poor, it's interesting to imagine what a policy aimed at hurting the world's poor would look like.

What does “fighting against poverty” mean ?

PR MPs don’t have a dedicated budget like the Constituency Development Fund, yet there are numerous social issues in the constituency, including poverty.

Hon.Ayebare Margaret Rwebyambu: Implementation is not the work of the parliament, it is for you the NGOs and ministries of government. We need to work together to end teenage pregnancies.

The important question of how poverty can be remedied is one which agitates and torments modern societies especially

Whatever expenditure is sanctioned—even when it is sanctioned against the ministry's wish—the ministry must find the money. Accordingly, they have the strongest motive to oppose extra outlay.... The ministry is (so to speak) the breadwinner of the political family, and has to meet the cost of philanthropy and glory; just as the head of a family has to pay for the charities of his wife and the toilette of his daughters.

Does the Government not see the importance of improving these services to relieve this great suffering of mothers and children?.

People from all sectors of society, including business, government and community must all work together to reduce poverty at its source, by ensuring that all have access to fairly paid work, to decent public services, and to income support in times of need.

Our mandate as a ministry is to provide healthcare, but unfortunately we have different ways of carrying out this mandate

A key strategy towards restoring stability is developing targeted approaches to poverty reduction across different sectors coupled with the specific social provisions for the poor and the most vulnerable groups in society.