Accra, Aug. 17, GNA - Participants at the second African Youth and Governance Conference have called on the African Union (AU) to develop strategic plans to combat the emerging pandemic of maternal mortality.

They said the AU should treat maternal mortality as a socio-developmental and health issue by investing and monitoring efforts to reduce significantly the high rate of maternal mortality.

They should also develop infrastructure to support expectant mothers in child bearing.

The call was contained in a communiqu=E9, issued at the end of the conference, jointly organised by Youth Bridge Foundation with the National Youth Council of Ghana and CDD-Ghana.

It was supported by the UNFPA, Newmont Ghana and Voltic Ghana Limited.

According to the World Health Organisation, (WHO) maternal health is the physical condition of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period.

Causes of maternal mortality include haemorrhage, infection, high blood pressure, unsafe abortion, and obstructed labour.

The conference held from August 10 to 13, in Accra, was under the theme: 93Participation and Empowerment and Youth Mobilisation with Maternal Mortality, Gender Equality and Youth Employability and Africa's achievement of the MDGs".

It was attended by 200 participants from the West African Sub-Region, Kenya, Swaziland, Ethiopia and Western Sahara.

The communiqu=E9 observed that low participation of the youth in decision-making processes and policy development had resulted in hostile policies developed by some African Governments and the AU.

"We would like to urge the AU to support and fund initiatives targeted at youth development to facilitate their empowerment and promote accountability of such measures with active participation of the youth as primary beneficiaries," it said.

The communiqu=E9 urged the AU to consider narrowing the age bracket in the African Youth Charter from 15-35 years to 15-24 years for it to be consistent with other international standards.

It called on African Governments to invest in developing infrastructure which support expectant mothers during child bearing.

"Our leaders must ensure the ratification and proper implementation of the African Youth Charter and involve young people in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of youth related projects, programmes and policies," the communiqu=E9 added.

It called for the need to support and develop programmes to build and establish an enabling environment for entrepreneurship skills, youth mentoring and counselling by increasing access to higher education, particularly for young girls, and responsive state institutions for young people at the national and rural areas.

The communiqu=E9 urged African leaders to develop and implement policies to facilitate access to credit for young people who want to start their own businesses by engaging land owners to create and offer land banks and the banking sector to improve the credit worthiness of young people.

It recommended that the youth on the continent should empower themselves through continuous learning and search for knowledge to enable them participate in decision-making and the development of Africa.

The communiqu=E9 advised the youth to desist from any form of negative activity that would compound problems on the continent.

But they should be proactive and ready to serve selflessly towards the development of the continent.

It appealed to donor agencies to focus on financing positive youth projects and programmes, which contribute to the development of the African Youth.