U.N. Chief to Launch Women And Children Health Drive

[cory777]

Source: Reuters

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will announce on Wednesday a $40 billion launch to a plan to save the lives of 16 million women and children over the next five years, U.N. officials said.

The drive aims to make headway on the slowest-moving sectors of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the world body 10 years ago -- maternal and child health.

It was announced on the final day of a U.N. summit designed to speed progress on all eight goals, which also seek to slash poverty and combat disease.

"It's the first time we've seen across-the-board agreement on how we approach women's and children's health," Robert Orr, a senior aide to Ban, told Reuters, adding that the plan would be endorsed by the 192 U.N. member states.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/09/22/world/international-us-un-assembly-health.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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[pampango]

1. "UN secures 40 bln dlrs for global health drive"

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jCYAn05cfGu-HC0I_4Ux7jvp_zyw

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced a 40-billion-dollar Wednesday drive to improve the health of women and children, which he said would save millions of lives around the world. Governments, philanthropists and private groups pledged the cash, giving a spectacular end to the UN summit on eliminating poverty, a campaign that has been badly battered by the international financial crisis.

The goals set target of cutting by two thirds the number of children who die before they are five, and reducing the number of women who die during childbirth by three quarters.

From 1990 to 2008 the number of child deaths fell by 28 percent, but there are still almost nine million deaths a year.

The Millennium goals also included cutting the number of people who survive on less than one dollar a day by half, halve the number of people who suffer from hunger, halt the spread of AIDS and other killer diseases, achieve universal primary education and empower women.