New York – 18 June 2015

Excellencies,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am pleased to join you this morning and thank the Permanent Mission of Grenada for organizing this important event.

A few months from now, in September, world leaders will adopt a transformative and ambitious post-2015 development agenda, with poverty eradication and the achievement of sustainable development as its core objectives.

To realize our development objectives, the health and well-being of women and girls must be integrated into our broader sustainable development efforts. We should ensure the full and equal participation of women and take concrete steps to address their development needs and aspirations.

Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,

The Beijing Declaration asserts the realization of women’s right to the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health. Globally, significant progress continues to be made with regard to women’s maternal and child health under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

However, a lot more remains to be done to improve the health of women and children around the world. For instance, while in 2013 maternal deaths had declined by 45% from 1990 levels according to the World Health Organization (WHO), still nearly 300,000 women worldwide, died during pregnancy and childbirth, a rate of almost 800 deaths per day. The majority of these deaths were from developing countries.

Goal 3 of the proposed SDGs seeks to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all, at all ages. “My Sisters’ Health Watch”, which has been designed with this in mind, is a worthy and valuable initiative taking into account the vital importance of making specific commitments to the improvement of women’s health.

I welcome and commend, in particular, My Sisters’ Health Watch call to action for the eradication of cervical cancer, and its focus on the need to reach the most marginalized, disadvantaged and underserved populations.
The initiative also seeks to raise awareness of the need for access to safe, affordable and quality health care services, particularly in developing countries.

Excellencies,

We need a holistic and integrated approach to address women’s health and well-being. In this regard, multistakeholder partnerships involving governments, United Nations entities, representatives of civil society, academia and the private sector, among others, have an important role to play. We have seen what can be achieved through initiatives such as “Every Woman Every Child” which has mobilized unprecedented international and national action by governments, multilateral organizations, the private sector and civil society to address the major health challenges facing women and children.

The Political Declaration on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) adopted by the General Assembly in 2011 calls for integration of the prevention and control of NCDs into policies across all government departments and to engage stakeholders beyond government. We need to prioritize and implement this commitment now more than ever before.

I thank the Government of Grenada for launching this timely initiative during the 59th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women earlier this year, and commend its continued commitment to improving the health and well-being of women.

I thank you for your attention