DHAKA, Bangladesh — The United Kingdom, the European Commission (EC) and three United Nations agencies are assisting Bangladesh in a major new effort to save lives and improve the health and well-being of mothers and newborns.

Agreements signed last week launched a five-year project intended to dramatically increase the use of quality health services. With support worth $31.2 million from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the EC, the project will be jointly implemented, starting next month, by the Government, UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Despite significant recent progress, far too many Bangladeshi women still give birth without skilled assistance or access to lifesaving emergency services. As a consequence, maternal and neonatal deaths remain high, respectively estimated at 320 and 4,100 per 100,000 live births.

In line with the national health strategy and effort to achieve Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, the new project aims to improve community health practices and to strengthen, diversify and increase demand for public services, with a focus on reaching the poor and excluded. The goal is to reduce maternal deaths by 15 per cent and neonatal deaths by 25 per cent, saving some 885 mothers and 24,000 newborns during the life of the project.

Starting in four districts and eventually expanding to 20, the initiative will test innovative ways to address deadly delays in seeking and receiving obstetric care, including voucher schemes for poor households.

On 7 June, representatives of the three participating United Nations agencies signed a memorandum of understanding, and the representatives of UNFPA and DFID signed a funding agreement. Senior officials from Bangladesh’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare witnessed the signing.

Contact Information:

Bangladesh: Dr. Shakil Ahmed, shakil@unfpa-bangladesh.org;

Bangkok: William A. Ryan, ryanw@unfpa.org