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Human right health
Improving maternal health
Every day some 1,000 women die of the consequences of pregnancy and childbirth in developing countries on account of a lack of adequate medical care. In some countries one mother dies for every 100 births.
The lack of awareness raising and of medical care for expectant mothers are two of the main reasons why pregnancy is a life-threatening condition in many countries. More than half of all women give birth without the help of a midwife or a doctor. Many women have only little say in matters of sexuality and family planning.
Alongside skilled care during pregnancy and childbirth, preventing unwanted pregnancies and reducing the number of unsafe abortions are important factors in reducing maternal mortality. Abortions are estimated to cause 13 per cent of deaths.
Germany's commitment
Within the scope of international development cooperation, Germany supports the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) through voluntary contributions to the UNFPA budget and through financial resources for special programmes on reproductive health. The German government also supports the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), an international umbrella association of NGOs active in the field of family planning.
German development cooperation promotes more than 50 projects globally in the field of sexual and reproductive health in the form of appropriate activities and interventions.
At the G8 summit in 2010 Germany pledged to support the Muskoka Initiative on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH). In the period up to 2015 it will provide an additional 400 million euros to measures implemented in this area.
