A landmark global conference in London this October aims to halt the needless deaths of 10 million women and girls who die in each generation during pregnancy and childbirth, and four million newborn babies who die every year. These tragic deaths are a major contributor to poverty around the world, and can be easily prevented with effective, low-cost investments.

At the Women Deliver conference, more than 2,000 participants will look at new and proven ways to save these lives. In addition to looking at strategies to change the ways how health information and services are
provided and funded, the conference will tackle other key issues, including poverty reduction, women's human rights, and economic development.

Participants at a sub-regional development forum which closed today in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, have called on North and Central Asian governments to channel the benefits of strong economic growth in recent years to lagging social sectors, by improving educational and health care services. Participants also highlighted the importance of monitoring the use of dwindling water resources. The recommendations were made today at the close of the North and Central Asian MDG Forum held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

More than 100 participants from 11 countries identified child mortality, undernourishment and poverty among children and marginalized groups, and lack of access to affordable social services as major road blocks to meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They emphasized the need for strong legal frameworks for protecting children's rights, targeted social assistance to poor and marginalized groups, quotas for women in parliament, and an inter-governmental agreement on labour migration to ease worker remittances.

Despite progress in reducing poverty and promoting education for girls, Central Asian countries still have a lot more to do. The sub-region has one of the highest proportions of population undernourished in Asia and the Pacific region. It is also falling behind in meeting some other MDGs, such as curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and providing access to drinking water and improved sanitation in rural areas.

To enable these countries to address the challenges they face towards achieving the MDGs by the deadline of 2015, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) will bring together around 100 delegates from 13 countries at the North and Central Asia MDG Forum, which will be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 19-20 July 2007. Participants, who include government policy makers, business leaders, representatives of civil society, academics and the media, are expected to develop an action plan to eradicate hunger and meet all the other MDGs in North and Central Asia.