A/HRC/18/27 C. Eastern Europe 59. In Armenia, sexual and reproductive health education is included in the school curriculum for eighth and ninth grades as part of a healthy lifestyle course; since 2010, with UNFPA support, sexual and reproductive health is also integrated into tenth and eleventh grades. Since 2005, there has not been a single maternal death due to unsafe abortion. 60. UNFPA has provided support for the establishment of travelling gynaecologist and emergency obstetric care teams for hard-to-reach and poor areas,54 as barriers to health-care access primarily include poverty and geography, with many women experiencing challenges associated with cost and availability of transport. 61. In the Republic of Moldova, the “Beyond the Numbers” programme focused on near-miss case reviews in referral-level facilities and confidential enquiries into maternal death at the national level. Together with ongoing maternal death audits, this has helped identify the causes of maternal mortality and morbidity, including such socio-economic factors as migratory lifestyle and rural residency. 62. In 2005, a strategic assessment of policies and quality of services for contraception and abortion care revealed disparities between institutions and service providers. Since 2009, contraception costs are covered for women who cannot otherwise afford services, and national standards for safe abortion have been developed. Medication for medical abortions were registered in 2000 on the national list for essential medicines. D. Latin America 63. Bolivia (Plurinational State of) has established cultural protocols for motherhood and newborn care, and created a model in July 2008 aimed at reinvigorating native indigenous rural medicine and ensuring its linkage and complementarity with Western medicine. It is intended to provide health services that take the person, family and the community into consideration by accepting, respecting, appraising and articulating indigenous rural people’s biomedical and traditional health knowledge. Working with local actors and interacting with representatives of the community is a key requirement of the model.55 64. In Brazil, a legislative investigation commission was created specifically to investigate maternal mortality. It explicitly made references to human rights principles and norms, international conferences and human rights treaties.56 The commission acknowledged that the devaluation of women in society, poverty and women’s lack of access to education and justice were central factors contributing to the high rate or maternal mortality. The commission made many recommendations, including to the Ministry of Health, for the establishment of maternal mortality committees and to give priority to family-planning programmes to prevent unsafe abortion. 65. Enhanced legal accountability was sought through the case of Alyne da Silva Pimental v Brazil filed before the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.57 The applicants alleged that the failure by Brazil to provide maternal health care violated several of its international obligations. The Committee was asked to direct Brazil to prioritize maternal mortality reduction, including by training providers, establishing and 54 UNFPA submission. Ibid. 56 IPAS Brazil submission. 57 Center for Reproductive Rights and Citizens’ Advocacy for Human Rights. 55 16