TARGETS BY 2015 :

Reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters.

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. -Mother Teresa

Healthy children need healthy mothers: The direct causes of maternal deaths are haemorrhage, infection, obstructed labour, hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, and complications of unsafe abortion. Another risk to expectant women is malaria. It can lead to anaemia, which increases the risk for maternal and infant mortality and developmental problems for babies. HIV infection is an increasing threat. A majority of these deaths and disabilities are preventable, being mainly due to insufficient care during pregnancy and delivery.

ADVANCING THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN ADVANCES HUMANITY:

Women’s rights and access to land, credit and education are limited not only due to legal discrimination, but because more subtle barriers such as their work load, mobility and low bargaining position in the household and community prevent them from taking advantage of their legal rights. These problems affect their children: Realizing the rights and equality of women is also the key to the survival and development of children and to building healthy families, communities and nations.

GETTING GIRLS INTO QUALITY SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTS AND HELPING THEM STAY:

Getting girls into school and ensuring that they learn and thrive in quality, child-friendly learning environments are key priorities. We have to coordinate efforts of a broad range of partners at global, regional, and national levels to meet the goals of gender parity and equality in education.

GIVING GIRLS A GOOD START IN EARLY CHILDHOOD:

A child’s earliest years are critical. To ensure that all young children get the best start in life, governments and communities should form policies and programmes in health, nutrition, water and environmental sanitation, psycho-social care and early learning, child protection and women’s rights.

PROMOTING GIRL CHILD PROTECTION:

We have to raise awareness about the importance of protection of girls, enhancing capacities at various levels of society and in the government. Programmes and policies that work include birth registration, media awareness, challenging traditional attitudes that lead to abuse, and advocating tougher laws for offenders against girls.

EMPOWERING WOMEN:

Many empirical findings clearly indicate that successfully addressing gender gaps can make a significant contribution. Analysing macroeconomic policies (e.g. labour market, business environment re- forms) from a gender perspective will help. The growth strategy should always be associated with rising labour demand for women. Removing gender gaps in education is critical for women to grasp opportunities. We should strengthen the economic analytical ability of representatives of women’s networks, parliament and the media, in order to ensure that alternative options for gender-sound economic policies are explored and made available for public discussion. Women must be able to get their interests heard and express them in public and political arenas.