Statement by Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director, UNFPA

On the eve of the World Summit, we are gathered here today in recognition of the urgent need to assist countries in helping women and children survive.

The lives of up to 7 million women, children and newborns can be saved each year, if the proven and cost-effective interventions are expanded to reach those in need.

The need for urgent, large-scale and integrated action has sparked the new global Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. The vision of the Partnership is to galvanize commitment and action, both global and national, to promote universal coverage of essential interventions throughout a continuum of care to save the lives of mothers and children.

Today, I am honoured to speak on behalf of UNFPA, UNAIDS, UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank. We are very excited to be part of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and fully committed to its success. We are committed to working together to scale up action to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 to dramatically reduce child and maternal mortality by 2015.

This is a major effort and no one agency can do it alone. Commitment and partnership are essential. Multilaterals will add value by harmonizing Partnership efforts at three levels:

• First, within each agency;
• Second, across agencies; and
• Third, with all partners for accelerated action at regional and country levels.

It is at the country level that the difference will be made. Success requires country-led action and ownership, with the Partnership providing essential support.

UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank pledge our commitment to work with governments, bilateral partners, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), health-care professional organizations, academic and research institutions, civil society and established global partnerships, such as the Global Alliance of Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), the Global Fund and others to accelerate action to reach the MDGs and targets for maternal and child health.

We need accelerated action because at the current rate of progress, the goals will not be met in many countries, especially in parts of Africa and Asia.

It is estimated that ensuring the access of women and couples to voluntary family planning could reduce maternal deaths by 20 to 35 per cent, and child deaths by as much as 20 per cent. Ensuring that pregnant women get skilled attendance in delivery and particularly emergency obstetric care would reduce maternal deaths by about 75 per cent.

Ensuring exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months of age would save 1.3 million children each year. And providing routine immunization could avert the death of over 2 million children annually. However, diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia continue to be the major causes of child deaths today and half of these deaths are among newborns, with malnutrition as a major underlying cause. The good news is that there are proven low-cost interventions for all of these causes.

Yet, despite these proven interventions:

• 200 million women currently lack access to contraceptives;
• Only 58 per cent of women in developing countries deliver with the assistance of a midwife or doctor;
• Only 3 per cent of HIV-infected pregnant women are offered drugs to prevent transmission from mother to child;
• Some 270 million children have no access to health care services of any kind; and
• 27 million children have not been fully immunized in 2004.

This April in New Delhi, health ministers, experts and advocates reached unprecedented global consensus on the way forward. The Delhi Declaration underlines the importance of greater financial and political commitment to help women and children survive.

As multilateral partners, we pledge to support the development and implementation of national action plans to achieve the maternal and child health MDGs. We pledge to find and commit additional resources to support country programmes to deliver high and equitable coverage of effective interventions. These interventions include programming for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health and the strengthening of health systems. This is important because many women today are caught between an inadequate government health system and an unaffordable private one.

We also pledge to work with partners to address the critical shortages in skilled health-care providers, which are exacerbated by lack of investment, migration, brain drain, and HIV and AIDS. Putting in place the health workforce needed for scaling up reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health services is an urgent task, and we believe that the support of health professional organizations will be crucial. We also pledge to develop, support and maintain an agreed system to promote greater accountability and coordination among the partners for maternal, newborn and child health.

Finally, we will support efforts to address the social and economic deprivations that put the health and well-being of women and children at risk. It is clear that improving the health of women and children requires the empowerment of women, engagement of men, and progress towards equity and respect for human rights.

I would now like to share with you some examples where we are currently working together with partners to make greater progress for women and children.

In Pakistan, a new strategy for maternal and child health was adopted two weeks ago. Under the coordination of the Ministry of Health, the strategy includes the expansion of family planning, skilled attendance at birth, emergency obstetric care and child health interventions. Key partners are UNICEF, WHO, UNFPA, the World Bank, Department for International Development (DFID) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID). We are excited about the comprehensive strategy and the progress we hope to achieve with the Government.

A similar strategy for maternal and child health was adopted this year in India and another is currently being developed in Bangladesh, where due to joint efforts, maternal and child mortality have declined significantly since 1990, but need to decline further to meet international goals.

In Africa, UNFPA, WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank, donor governments and others are working together supporting countries to implement their national Road Maps for Accelerating the Attainment of the MDGs Related to Maternal and Newborn Health. Road maps are well underway in Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, and under preparation in many other countries. They contain clear targets and costing requirements, and implementation plans will be developed to rapidly scale up programmes. The overall goal is to ensure universal access to family planning, skilled attendance at delivery, and basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric care. As the Partnership develops more fully, we are confident that increased successes will be registered and millions of lives will be saved.

On behalf of UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO and the World Bank, I would like to conclude by stressing that we are fully committed to ensuring the success of the new Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. Through concerted action and increased financial and political commitment, we will achieve a major reduction in maternal, newborn and child mortality by 2015.

Thank you.