Development minister Bert Koenders today opened an international conference on maternal mortality, which is being held in Ethiopia. The conference is a joint initiative by the Netherlands and the United Nations Population Fund UNFPA.

Progress on Millennium Development Goal 5, reducing maternal mortality, lags far behind that on the other goals. As Mr Koenders explained, ‘The number of women dying in childbirth every day is equivalent to the death toll of six jumbo jet crashes.’

‘Millennium Development Goal 5 is the mother of all Millennium Development Goals. The Netherlands has made it a priority, and I am therefore investing in training midwives, access to family planning and safe abortion. Better healthcare systems and a focus on sexual and reproductive rights are also central to my policy.’

The conference closed with an action plan containing concrete recommendations to truly reduce maternal mortality by 2015. Access to contraceptives is crucial. Young people also need more and better sex education. The third recommendation is to strengthen health systems, with explicit focus on mothers.

Read the Speech by Minister Koenders



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