Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 367: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs in view of the adoption of a new UN target, under millennium goal five, to achieve universal access to reproductive health by 2015, his Department is taking steps to increase international action on maternal health issues and to develop an Irish Aid Health strategy which addresses the rate of maternal mortality and the unmet need for contraception; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4180/07]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Universal access to reproductive health is one of the goals of the Programme of Action agreed at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994. The Government is committed to action in support of this goal which is essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and is important in tackling HIV and AIDS.

Limited progress has been made since the Cairo conference in 1994. Reproductive health problems account for 18% of the total global burden of disease and, tragically, half a million women die every year from complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Underlying this tragedy is the lack of access by women, especially in developing countries, to good quality maternal and reproductive health services, including family planning.

The Government welcomes the new UN target under Millennium Development Goal 5 to achieve universal access to reproductive health. This will provide much-needed impetus to international action to improve women's health and reduce maternal illness and death.

The White Paper on Irish Aid outlines the Government's commitment to supporting the specific health needs of women within our overall approach to health in developing countries. It states that 'addressing women's health needs, particularly in the areas of basic healthcare and maternal and reproductive health must lie at the heart of an effective overall response to improving health in developing countries'.

A strategy document setting out Irish Aid's policy on health is being finalised. It will address the issues of maternal mortality and the unmet need for contraception. Through its country programmes and support for international organisations, Irish Aid will continue to promote the particular health needs of women, emphasising sexual and reproductive health services.

Maternal health is a priority of Irish Aid support for health through bilateral programmes. Funding is provided to support Governments in Ireland's priority countries in sub-Saharan Africa to deliver a package of basic health care, including reproductive health services. Additional support is granted for specific initiatives on maternal health, such as the new midwifery school in Northern Province, Zambia which opened in 2006. Another example is our commitment of €2.3 million in 2006 to a four-year project in Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi, which aims to improve the provision of maternal health services by mid-level health workers.

In addition to this funding, Irish Aid works through several partner agencies in the UN system to address maternal health issues and the unmet need for contraception. One of the main barriers to achieving universal access to reproductive health is the lack of empowerment of women in developing countries. These issues form the core mandate of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), with which Irish Aid has a close relationship. In light of its important mandate, the Government has increased core funding to UNFPA in the last five years from €1.8m in 2002 to €3.1m in 2006. Additionally, in 2006 the Government made a contribution of €500,000 to the newly established UNFPA Trust Fund for Global Reproductive Health Commodities Security, which aims to ensure that Governments have a constant supply of reproductive health commodities.