Putting women & girls first

Next week, leaders from around the globe will meet in New York for the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Summit. The actions they take over these three days could hold [break]the key to creating a stable, successful future for millions of the world’s poorest people.

The MDGs were agreed 10 years ago with a palpable sense of urgency. Something needed to be done to save the lives of mothers dying needlessly in childbirth, to get the millions of children missing out on an education into school, to fight the spread of killer diseases and first and foremost to halve the number of people living in poverty across the world.

Those leaders, a decade ago, set themselves a deadline of 2015 to achieve the goals. So, with the clock ticking down to 2015, now is the time to take stock, review progress and press hard on the accelerator pedal to speed up in the areas which need the most urgent attention.

The Summit takes place in the tailwind of the global financial meltdown. In this difficult economic climate, the temptation is for nations to pull back from the international commitments they have made. It is a temptation that the UK government is determined to resist. The new coalition government has been clear – we will keep the promises made to the world’s poorest people, and maintain our commitment to reducing poverty around the world.

But aid is only part of the story. Trade and investment are the engines of economic growth, offering the only sustainable way out of the grinding poverty that afflicts nearly a billion people across the globe. Boosting private investment and enterprise in the developing world has the potential to help us meet every single one of the MDGs. People with secure jobs and fair wages have the opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty.

The UK goes to the Summit putting women and girls at the forefront of its efforts. Investing in them will reap dividends. How can countries propel themselves toward sustainable economic growth when 50 percent of its talent are not given the opportunity to make a contribution? Every day about 1,400 women die in pregnancy or childbirth, nearly all of them in the developing world. This cannot be allowed to continue. The UK will be making a huge effort at the Summit to bring an end to this daily tragedy and will be pushing other governments to do likewise. By improving the quality of health services, we can start to ensure that pregnancy is no longer a life-threatening condition.

That’s why, in Nepal, we have worked for more than a decade on maternal health and contributed to reducing maternal deaths by almost 50 percent. But meeting the MDG on maternal health in Nepal is still challenging - one woman dies every four hours due to birth-related causes, even today. Therefore, we and other donors have committed ourselves to supporting the Government of Nepal’s Health Sector Programme II for the next five years. This will enhance access to family planning, safe abortion services, skilled birth attendance, and emergency obstetric care to bring about further reduction in maternal deaths in Nepal.

Every day about 1,400 women die in pregnancy or childbirth, nearly all of them in the developing world. This cannot be allowed to continue. The UK will be making a huge effort at the MDG Summit to bring an end to this daily tragedy and will be pushing other governments to do likewise.

Although malaria is not a major cause of death in Nepal, in many other countries it remains a major killer. There are globally around 2,000 deaths a day – mostly children, the vast majority preventable – from malaria. The disease leaves only tragedy in its wake - families suffering, countries robbed of future talent and huge burdens on health services already at breaking point. It is right that tackling malaria is also right at the top of the UK’s agenda for the Summit.

Every one of us has an interest in meeting the MDGs, but they can only be met with the determination of governments, charities and businesses, civil societies and citizens. The UK has been a world leader in tackling the MDGs, and we have been working night and day over the past few months to make sure next week’s Summit is a success. We now urge others attending the Summit to join the UK in agreeing a course of action that will meet the MDGs by 2015, setting us on the path to eradicating poverty once and for all.

Writer is UK Secretary of State for International Development.