UN High-Level Meeting on Africa's Development Needs
22 September 2008
State of implementation of various commitments, challenges and the way forward
The meeting at United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York was convened by president of the General Assembly and brought together participants of the highest possible political level, some NGOs, civil society organizations, private sector organizations and Heads of UN agencies to review the implementation of commitments made to and by Africa. A draft resolution was agreed, and later submitted by the President of the UN General Assembly to the Assembly Find below some of relevant documents related links.
Maternal health was highlighted by Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, in his opening address to the meeting, and also highlighted in the Secretary-General's report to the meeting. Several statements highlighted the importance of maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) during both the High-level and key Side Events.
A draft resolution was agreed at the High-level meeting and later submitted to the UN, of which Article 30 is most relevant to MNCH: "Article 30: We resolve to increase our efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality and reaffirm the commitment to achieve universal access to reproductive health by 2015." See the full Declaration below.
Several side events were organized on the same day which focused on Africa's Development Needs. Three key side meetings related directly to maternal, newborn and child health: Africa Women Forum; The MDG Africa Steering Group and the Gleneagles Scenario Approach to Scaling Up ODA; The Social Development Challenge in Africa: Better Health for Africa.
Find below the Political Declaration, Reports, and links to the UN website, and a page with links and MNCH highlights on relevant Side Events on 22 September 2008.