Armed Conflict and Maternal Health in Sub-Saharan Africa

Led by Gudrun Østby
Jul 2014 - Jun 2018

The odds that a woman in Sub-Saharan Africa will die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth is one in 20, compared to one in 6,250 in the developed world, resulting both from high fertility and maternal mortality rates. The majority of the countries in this region have experienced armed conflict since the end of the Cold War, and this poor health performance may in part be due to the detrimental effects of armed conflicts. The research project Armed Conflict and Maternal Health in Sub-Saharan Africa led by Gudrun Østby, is one of five Young Research Talent projects which have received funds from the Research Council of Norway under the funding scheme for Independent Basic Research Projects (FRIPRO).

The primary objective of the project is to improve our understanding of how conflict affects maternal health and how to improve maternal health in post-conflict societies, which is crucial for formulating humanitarian policies to improve women's health after conflict.

We will study how civil war affects various health indicators as well as investigate what factors impact maternal health in post conflict societies. We combine statistical analysis of secondary data, such as national surveys, with qualitative analysis through fieldwork in Burundi, the DR Congo, and Liberia. While many studies focus exclusively on the direct effects of specific interventions to improve maternal health such as e.g. family planning services and the provision of obstetrical care, we broaden the scope and also consider the more distant impact of political, socioeconomic, and cultural factors. Furthermore, this project is the first systematic attempt to study determinants of maternal health in post-conflict societies at the local (subnational) level.

In addition to Gudrun Østby, the project team includes PRIO researchers Henrik Urdal, Andreas Forø Tollefsen, Chi Primus Che and Ragnhild Belbo, as well as Theodora-Ismene Gizelis from Essex University, Philip Verwimp from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, and Andreas Kotsadam from the Frisch Centre.

This project is placed under the umbrella of the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies (NCHS).

Members

Research Groups

Publications

Peer-reviewed Journal Article

Østby, Gudrun; Olga Shemyakina; Andreas Forø Tollefsen; Henrik Urdal & Marijke Verpoorten (2021) Public Health and Armed Conflict: Immunization in Times of Systemic Disruptions, Population and Development Review. DOI: 10.1111/padr.12450.

Rustad, Siri Aas; Helga Malmin Binningsbø; Haakon Gjerløw; Francis Mwesigye; Tony Odokonyero & Gudrun Østby (2021) Maternal Health Care Among Refugees and Host Communities in Northern Uganda: Access, Quality, and Discrimination, Frontiers in Global Women's Health 2.

Theisen, Ole Magnus; Håvard Strand & Gudrun Østby (2020) Ethno-political favoritism in maternal health care service delivery: Micro-level evidence from sub-Saharan Africa, 1981–2014, International Area Studies Review 23(1): 3–27.

Verwimp, Philip; Davide Osti & Gudrun Østby (2020) Forced Displacement, Migration, and Fertility in Burundi, Population and Development Review 46(2): 287–319.

Chi, Primus Che; Patience Bulage & Gudrun Østby (2020) Equity in aid allocation and distribution: A qualitative study of key stakeholders in Northern Uganda, PLoS ONE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226612.

Kotsadam, Andreas & Gudrun Østby (2019) Armed conflict and maternal mortality: A micro-level study of sub-Saharan Africa, 1989–2013, Social Science & Medicine 239: 1–2.

Druce, Philippa; Ekaterina Bogatyreva; Frederik Francois Siem; Scott Gates; Hanna Kaade; Johanne Sundby; Morten Rostrup; Catherine Andersen; Siri Aas Rustad; Andrew Tchie; Robert Mood; Håvard Mokleiv Nygård; Henrik Urdal & Andrea Sylvia Winkler (2019) Approaches to protect and maintain health care services in armed conflict – meeting SDGs 3 and 16, Conflict and Health 13(2).

Østby, Gudrun; Henrik Urdal; Andreas Forø Tollefsen; Andreas Kotsadam; Ragnhild Belbo & Christin Marsh Ormhaug (2018) Organized Violence and Institutional Child Delivery: Micro-Level Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa, 1989–2014, Demography 55(4): 1295–1316.

Kotsadam, Andreas; Siri Aas Rustad; Gudrun Østby; Andreas Forø Tollefsen & Henrik Urdal (2018) Development aid and infant mortality. Micro-level evidence from Nigeria, World Development 105: 59–69.

Chi, Primus Che & Henrik Urdal (2018) The Evolving Role of Traditional Birth Attendants in Maternal Health in Post-Conflict Africa: A Qualitative Study of Burundi and Northern Uganda, SAGE Open Medicine 6: 1–9.

Gizelis, Theodora-Ismene; Sabrina Karim; Gudrun Østby & Henrik Urdal (2017) Maternal Health Care in the Time of Ebola: A Mixed-Method Exploration of the Impact of the Epidemic on Delivery Services in Monrovia, World Development. DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.04.027.

Kotsadam, Andreas; Gudrun Østby & Siri Aas Rustad (2017) Structural change and wife abuse: A disaggregated study of mineral mining and domestic violence in sub-Saharan Africa, 1999–2013, Political Geography 56(1): 53–65.

Østby, Gudrun (2016) Rural-Urban Migration, Inequality and Urban Social Disorder: Evidence from African and Asian Cities, Conflict Management and Peace Science 33(5): 491–515.

Rustad, Siri Aas; Gudrun Østby & Ragnhild Nordås (2016) Does Artisanal Mining Increase the Risk of Sexual Violence? Micro-level evidence from Eastern Congo, Quality in Primary Care 24(2): 77–80.

Rustad, Siri Aas; Gudrun Østby & Ragnhild Nordås (2016) Artisanal mining, conflict, and sexual violence in Eastern DRC, The Extractive Industries and Society 3(2): 475–484.

Østby, Gudrun; Henrik Urdal & Ida Rudolfsen (2016) What Is Driving Gender Equality in Secondary Education? Evidence from 57 Developing Countries, 1970–2010, Education Research International. DOI: 10.1155/2016/4587194.

Chi, Primus Che; Patience Bulage; Henrik Urdal & Johanne Sundby (2015) Barriers in the Delivery of Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care in Post-Conflict Africa: Qualitative Case Studies of Burundi and Northern Uganda, PLOS ONE 10(9).

Motaze, Nkengafac V.; Primus Che Chi; Pierre Ongolo-Zogo; Jean Serge Ndongo & Charles Shey Wiysonge (2015) Government regulation of private health insurance, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2015(4): 1–14.

Chi, Primus Che; Patience Bulage; Henrik Urdal & Johanne Sundby (2015) A qualitative study exploring the determinants of maternal health service uptake in post-conflict Burundi and Northern Uganda, BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 15(18).

Chi, Primus Che; Henrik Urdal; Odidika U.J. Umeora; Johanne Sundby; Paul Spiegel & Declan Devane (2015) Improving maternal, newborn and women's reproductive health in crisis settings, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2015(8): 1–26.

Chi, Primus Che; Patience Bulage; Henrik Urdal & Johanne Sundby (2015) Perceptions of the effects of armed conflict on maternal and reproductive health services and outcomes in Burundi and Northern Uganda: a qualitative study, BMC International Health and Human Rights 15(7): 1–15.

Book Chapter

Urdal, Henrik & Primus Che Chi (2015) War and Gender Inequalities in Health, in Gizelis , Theodora-Ismene; & Louise Olsson, eds, Gender, Peace and Security: Implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325. Abingdon: Routledge (116–137).

Conference Paper

Østby, Gudrun; Henrik Urdal; Andreas Forø Tollefsen; Andreas Kotsadam; Ragnhild Belbo & Christin Marsh Ormhaug (2015) Armed conflict and maternal health care Micro-level evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa., presented at the Annual Convention of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, CA, 3–6 September.

Østby, Gudrun (2014) Violence Begets Violence: Armed Conflict and Domestic Sexual Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa, presented at SVAC (Sexual Violence and Armed Conflict) Workshop, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2–3 September.

PRIO Policy Brief

Verwimp, Philip; Davide Osti & Gudrun Østby (2018) Forced Displacement, Migration and Pregnancy Risk: Micro-level evidence from Burundi, GPS Policy Brief, 2. Oslo: PRIO.

Østby, Gudrun; Henrik Urdal; Andreas Forø Tollefsen; Andreas Kotsadam; Ragnhild Belbo & Christin Marsh Ormhaug (2018) How Does Organized Violence Affect the Chances of Giving Birth at a Health Facility?, Conflict Trends, 8. Oslo: PRIO.

Kotsadam, Andreas; Gudrun Østby; Siri Aas Rustad; Andreas Forø Tollefsen & Henrik Urdal (2018) Does Aid Reduce Infant Mortality? Local-Level Evidence from Nigeria, Conflict Trends, 2. Oslo: PRIO.