For day two of the study tour, EPF’s parliamentary delegation formed by MPs Carla Sousa (Portugal), Brid Smith (Ireland), Eeva-Johanna Eloranta (Finland), Laurence Zanchetta (Belgium) annd Sen. Cosmin Poteras (Romania) was officially welcomed by the Malawian Parliament. Over the course of the morning, the Malawian parliamentarians presented the current situation of SRHR, specifically expanding on the bills relating to abortion, child marriages, and the inclusion of SRHR in the national budget. EPF’s parliamentary delegation shared success stories from their respective national parliaments in this dialogue exchange. In the afternoon, the parliamentarians visited the Bwaila Hospital in Lilongwe. It is one of the busiest maternal wards in sub-Saharan Africa with an average of 50-60 (and as high as 80) births per day. The average age of these new mothers is between 16-23 years old. The EPF’s parliamentary delegation was joined by members of the Malawian Women’s Caucus and Health Committee at Bwaila Hospital and was given a tour of every ward relating to a woman’s pregnancy, labour and postnatal care.
