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Millennium Development Goals
Goal #5: Improve Maternal Health
by Laura Amendola
This summer in Columbus, OH, the General Convention of
the Episcopal Church named the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as the number one mission priority
for the next three years.
To learn more about the MDGs and the Episcopal Church’s commitment, go
to:
www.episcopalchurch.org/ONE
This is the fifth
installment in my eight-part series on the Millennium Development Goals.
Goal number five is to improve maternal health. In particular, the
target for this goal is to decrease by three quarters the number of
women who die in childbirth by 2015.
Here are the facts:
Annually 500,00 women die in childbirth -99% of them are in a third
world country
Mothers in Sub-Saharan Africa have a one in 16 chance of dying in
childbirth compared to one in 2,000 for European women, and one in 3,500
for North American Women.
The loss of a mother further complicates and perpetuates the poverty of
the family and community.
When Jesus sent his followers out to preach the good news he said,
“Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set
before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The Kingdom
of God has come near to you.’” (Luke 10:8-9) By promoting and improving
maternal health, we can participate in building the Kingdom of God.
So what can you do?
Give: if everyone gave just 0.7% of their gross income we could achieve
the Millennium Development Goals. Today try out the Health Unlimited
program, which has programs for both women and children (www.healthunlimited.org).
Learn: A good place to start is by visiting the World Health
Organization’s website dedicated to Gender, Women and Health:
www.who.int/gender/en/
Click: A plethora of information can also be found at the Millennium
Project’s website:
www.unmillenniumproject.org
**If you are interested in how to bring the MDG’s to your
family/parish/dioceses click on
www.e4gr.org to see what other people
are doing around the United States.
>> Laura Amendola
Read about the other goals:
Goal #1: Eradicating Extreme Hunger and Poverty
Goal #2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
Goal #3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower
Women
Goal #4: Reduce Child Mortality
Goal #5: Improve
Maternal Health
Goal #6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other
diseases
Goal #7: Ensure
Environmental Sustainability
>Laura Amendola