In section 3.4 of the recently published International Assessment: What will it take to achieve the Millennium Development Goals UNDP strongly emphasises the need for investment in skilled health workers:

“Investments in skilled health workers, particularly birth attendants, have a considerable impact on reducing maternal, neonatal and child mortality, particularly in isolated rural communities. Evidence shows that, globally, maternal mortality has declined at a slow rate, from 576,000 deaths in 1990 to 536,000 in 2005, with the maternal mortality ratio declining from 430 per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 400 in 2005.55 This reduction amounts to an average decrease of less than 1 percent annually between 1990 and 2005, well short of the 5.5 percent annual decline required to achieve the MDG target. About 99 percent of maternal deaths worldwide still occur in developing countries. Out of the 14 countries with the highest maternal mortality ratio of over 1,000 deaths per 100,000 live births, 13 were in sub-Saharan Africa.  Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia together accounted for 86 percent of all global maternal deaths in 2005.56 HIV is also curtailing progress on maternal health. According to recent findings, without HIV, maternal mortality would have been 18 percent below its 2008 level.” Hogan, M. C., Foreman, K. J, Naghavi M. et al. (2010). Maternal Mortality for 181 Countries, 1980- 2008: A Systematic Analysis of Progress towards Millennium Development Goal 5. The Lancet. Available from http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)60518-1/ fulltext?_eventId=login (accessed 3 May 2010).

The Portuguese All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population and Development (APGPD), the European Parliamentary Forum (EPF),  the Portuguese Family Planning Association (APF), with the support of UNRIC and UNFPA (from Guinea-Bissau and Ms.Catarina Furtado, UNFPA GA), organized a one-day conference on “Human Rights on the Agenda: The MDGs at ten -  a final countdown to reduce the the child, neonatal, maternal mortality”. The conference, which focused on MDGs 4 and 5, was held on 18 May at the Parliament, in Lisbon, Portugal.

During the proceedings, a draft resolution, was approved that recommended that the Portuguese Government re-affirm its commitment to the achievement of the MDGs, particularly MDGs 4 and 5. 

After debate in the Parliamentarian Commission, this resolution was adopted unanimously by the Parliament on Thursday 24 June.