UK to focus aid efforts on women

14 September 2010

The UK Government is to put the wellbeing of women and children at the centre of its international aid policy, International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced today.

The announcement comes a week before the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Summit in New York, where Nick Clegg and Andrew Mitchell will announce that the shift in focus will double the number of women and newborn lives saved by 2015.

The Department for International Development (DFID) will do this by:

• overhauling all aid programmes to see what can be done differently in order to save more women and babies.
• using new ways of working, for example looking at what the non-state and private sector can offer as well seeking opportunities through new technology.
• seeking the views of health workers, mothers, academics, charities and international partners to design a new business plan that will act as a blueprint for the UK Government’s work across the world on reproductive and maternal health.

By doing this, UK aid will save the lives of at least 50,000 women in pregnancy and childbirth, save 250,000 newborn babies and enable 10 million couples to access modern methods of family planning by 2015.

Andrew Mitchell, International Development Secretary, said:

“More than a third of a million women have died during pregnancy or childbirth in the past year and 25,000 children die every day. The fact that the vast majority of these deaths are preventable and well within our power to stop should be a source of shame.

“By refocusing the UK’s aid efforts towards helping women in the world’s poorest countries, we can help bring down these shocking figures and boost the contribution women can make to the societies and economies of the developing world.”

Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister, said:

“The Millennium Development Goals are one of the great causes of our age and the deadline to meet them is just five years away

“I am proud that the UK is playing its part – but it's time for other nations to step up their efforts.

“Women are often the heart of the family and without healthy mothers, families, communities, and societies fail.”

Empowering women and girls so that each and every one of them can become active members and contributors to their society and national economies will be the UK’s key priority at the UN MDG Summit.