MOTHERS STILL DIE DESPITE MILLENNIUM GOALS

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 25th Sep 2008

At the UN High Level meeting today in New York, world leaders are expected to reaffirm their commitments to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, which aim to end extreme poverty.

Commenting on the UN High Level event, Lib Dem Development spokesperson in the European Parliament Fiona Hall MEP said: "We're at the half-way point towards the 2015 target date so it is important to take stock of what has already been achieved. In all but two regions, at least 90% of primary age children are enrolled in schools and progress is well on the way to halving the proportion of people living on less than a $1 a day.

"But there is still a lot to do. Progress has been very unevenly spread. Many of these goals are way off track in sub-Saharan Africa, which continues to lag behind in halving poverty and improving child health. And scandalously little progress has been made to save mothers' lives - at the global level, maternal mortality decreased by less than 1% a year between 1990 and 2005, far below the level needed to achieve the target.

"The current food and financial crisis only highlights how important it is for us to honour our pledges on aid commitments and make sure that we deliver on development."