A/HRC/14/39 and morbidity, that the “right to health includes an entitlement to participate in health policymaking … [because this] will help develop more effective and sustainable programmes, reduce exclusion and enhance accountability”.88 3. Transparency 40. Without transparency, there cannot be meaningful accountability or participation. The State is obligated to provide transparent accountability processes to enable citizens to participate fully in the review and refocusing of public policies.89 CESCR has pointed out that health strategies and plans of action need to be devised and reviewed “on the basis of a participatory and transparent process”.90 The Special Rapporteur on the right to health emphasizes that although States have some discretion in choosing appropriate monitoring and accountability mechanisms, “all mechanisms must be effective, accessible and transparent”.91 4. Empowerment 41. As mentioned in the section on equality and non-discrimination above, preventable mortality and morbidity is closely linked to inequitable access to health resources, information and other human rights. Conversely, gender equality and empowerment play a key role in preventing maternal mortality because they lead to greater demand by women for family planning services, antenatal care and safe delivery.92 In addition, the effectiveness of accountability mechanisms, which in turn render health policies more effective, depends on the use made of these mechanisms. Therefore, CESCR has called for the provision, where possible, of legal aid to victims of potential human rights violations in order for accountability mechanisms to be effective.93 In the context of maternal mortality and morbidity, access to information, and the education to take advantage of this information, is crucial to women and girls being able to take advantage of existing mortality reduction schemes. Empowerment therefore becomes the precursor for effective policies. 5. Sustainability 42. Reducing preventable maternal mortality and morbidity requires a long-term investment in health policies and programmes to further the empowerment of those women who are particularly at risk. Such sustainability has been highlighted as key to successful initiatives to guarantee both the underlying physical determinants of health, such as water, and health-care access itself.94 6. International assistance 43. While the prevention of maternal mortality and morbidity in some cases depends on the provision of relatively economical and simple interventions, deaths cannot be fully prevented without an overall functioning health system and a stable infrastructure for transportation of implements and patients, as well as a system for education, the provision 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 16 A/61/338, para. 28 (c). See for example CESCR, general comment No. 20, para. 40. CESCR, general comment No. 14, para. 43 (f). A/61/338, para. 65. Hunt and Bueno de Mesquita, Reducing Maternal Mortality, p. 7. See for example CESCR, general comment No. 7: The right to adequate housing (art. 11.1): forced evictions (1997), para. 15. A/61/338, in particular paras. 28 (c), 84 and 95. See also CESCR, general comment No. 15: The right to water (arts. 11 and 12) (2002), para. 11. GE.10-12949