Recognizing that the root causes of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, which can constrain efforts to eliminate them and contribute to their unacceptably high global rates, encompass a wide range of interlinked underlying factors related to development, human rights and health, including, inter alia, poverty, illiteracy, lack of economic opportunities, challenges associated with rapid population growth, poor nutrition, barriers to education, discrimination against women and girls, harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation/cutting and early and forced marriage, as well as gender-based violence, lack of participation in decision-making, poor health infrastructure, inadequate training for health personnel and inadequate investment in education, nutrition and basic health care,