Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called upon governments to commit funds to the health sector in order to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) four, five and six.
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called upon governments to commit funds to the health sector in order to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) four, five and six.
MDG 4 focuses on reducing child mortality by two thirds by the year 2015; goal 5’s target is to reduce maternal mortality by three quarters and achieve universal access to reproductive health, while goal 6 aims to combat HIV/AIDS , malaria and other diseases.
According to Clinton: “We have not reached the goals of reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Yet the goal of 2015 that we set for ourselves is already knocking on our doors. It is too critical that governments renew their promises and deliver for girls and women,” she said in a recorded message on the opening day of Women Deliver 2013.
Clinton also urged governments to educate girls and to empower women in order to end the suffering they go through. She said that in most developing countries, girls are the last to be sent to school and that school dropouts often leads to early marriage.
Under the theme “Invest in Girls and Women – It Pays, Clinton said that girls and women still do not have access to education, jobs and good opportunities like their male counterparts.
She noted that countries like Rwanda have achieved significant success in maternal mortality by providing better sexual and reproductive health services, incentives to women and by involving men.
However she also indicated that some developing countries still face challenges in drug supplies, health facility accessibility and lack of human resources.
“We must achieve universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights for everyone. If women cannot plan their fertility, they cannot plan their lives,” she said. “All women should have a choice on how many children they want to have and when to have them.”
Jeni Klugman, director for gender and development at the World Bank, said that women have the biggest work force in the world but that because women are not empowered, a large number of married women do not own property in matrimonial homes and have no say in their own households.
“The former Soviet Union felt that it was morally wrong for women to access family planning services and delay marriage to further their career. Education is the best weapon for women to face the world, it brings more awareness so that women can make better informed choices,” she added.
Lakshmi Puri, UN Women’s Acting Executive Director, said that governments should work hard to increase family planning products at village level so that women can easily access them.
“If every village can have a Coca-Cola product, why can’t we have family planning products at village level? We must ask governments to implement their commitments towards women and girls,” she said.
While officially opening the 3rd global Women Deliver conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Tun Abdul Razak, said that early childhood education of girls is the best foundation and investment governments can make.
“Investing in girls and women is not only the right thing to do, it is also good for the economy and good for society,” Razak said.
He added that Women Deliver 2013 will be an opportunity to keep up the pressure and to affirm plans for the period ahead.
COMMENTS
It is really an opportunity to keep up the pressure for investing in girls, thanks for the article Hope.
well done Hope.Let us hope they will do.