Regional Effects of Maternal Mortality Determinants in Africa and the Middle East: How About Political Risks of Conflicts?

Abstract

BackgroundAs per the United Nations Women data, the maternal mortality rate in war-affected countries is critical and more than 800 million people live in war-affected countries (ICRC). External and internal conflicts such as foreign pressure, war and cross-border, civil disorder, terrorism, and civil war, are characteristics of Middle Eastern and African countries. Therefore considering the rapid increment of political risks and internal and external conflicts in Africa and the Middle East during the last decade, and considering warfare as a key contributor to maternal mortality; This paper seeks to evaluate the factors that have caused significant rates of maternal mortality in Middle Eastern and African countries by emphasizing the contributions of a number of political risk aspects as Civil Disorder Index, Terrorism Index, Civil War Index, Foreign Pressures Index, Cross-Border Conflict Index, War Index along with other socio-economic factors.MethodData were collected from forty-six countries during 2011–2016 to explore the regional contributions of political risk aspects to the maternal mortality rate through spatial approaches.ResultsIt was found that GDP per capita, energy intensity, and urbanization strongly impacted maternal mortality. Also, it was observed that natural resource rents and economic growth significantly influenced the reduction of mortality by expanding healthcare services. The urban expansion was found to have elevated maternal mortality. A majority of external and internal conflicts reduced the orientation of production toward healthcare services and thus raised maternal mortality. On the other hand, war and cross-border were found to pose opposite impacts.ConclusionThe findings revealed that political risks arising from terrorism, foreign pressure, and war in the adjacent countries would elevate the rate of mortality in the original country. This implies the spillover impacts of regional conflicts on maternal mortality elevation at the regional scale.JEL Classification Codes: C23; I10; I18; N37:

Maternal Mortality in Africa: Regional Trends (2000–2017)

“…Several studies on maternal mortality in Africa and other countries have indicated the importance of the political and economic context on maternal mortality, including external and internal conflicts such as wars and civil disorders [ 34 ]. The factors which decreased MM were the Gross Domestic Product and natural resource rents by increased healthcare attention.…”

“…There were five countries in East Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan), three in Central Africa (Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo), two in West Africa (Liberia and Sierra Leone), two in South Africa (Angola, Mozambique) and one in North Africa (Libya). Terrorism and war in the adjacent countries have a spillover impact on maternal mortality elevation at the regional scale [ 34 ].…”

Assessing the Impact of Selected Determinants on Renewable Energy Sources in the Electricity Mix: The Case of ASEAN Countries

“…Looking ahead to future research, including natural gas and coal price variations (as opposed to price levels) and exploiting data with a longer time horizon would likely better explain the effects of the selected determinants on the share of RE and its various sources in electricity generation. Future research can also bundle RE sources by their characteristics (such as whether RE sources have cooling technology or not [51]), incorporate spatial and time heterogeneity in the analyses [9,10,52,53], and include more related variables such as energy policy (mandatory versus voluntary), different types of emissions (e.g., SO 2 , NOx, CH 4 ), ecological footprint, and foreign direct investment, among other variables.…”

Maternal Mortality in Africa, Regional Trends (2000-2017)

“…Several studies on maternal mortality in Africa and other countries have indicated the importance of political and economic context on Maternal Mortality, including external and internal conflicts such as wars and civil disorders [34]. The factors which decreased MM were the Gross Domestic Product and natural resource rents by increased healthcare attention.…”

“…There were five countries in East Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan), three in Central Africa (Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo), and two in West Africa (Liberia and Sierra Leone), 2 in South Africa (Angola, Mozambique) and one in North Africa (Libya). Terrorism and war in the adjacent countries have a spillover impact on maternal mortality elevation at the regional scale [34].…”