Good morning/afternoon, everyone.

It’s a pleasure to join you all today to talk about an issue that matters to us all.

As many of you know, maternal, newborn and child health is the centrepiece of our Government’s international development policy.

Prime Minister Harper has been championing the health of women and children in developing countries since he launched the G-8 Muskoka Initiative on this issue in 2010.

A few weeks ago, he spoke to the media about the three-day Summit that he will be hosting in Toronto next week, called “Saving Every Woman, Every Child: Within Arm’s Reach.”

The Summit will bring together Canadian and international experts from all over the world to accelerate efforts on maternal, newborn and child health.

When asked why Canada was so engaged on this issue, Prime Minister Harper explained that this is something Canadians are passionate about.

That it is the right thing to do.

And, what’s more, that it is doable.

You don’t have to be a doctor or a health expert to agree with that statement. 

The preventable deaths of mothers and children in developing countries are one of the greatest tragedies of the 21st century.

No mother should have to choose between herself and the health of her baby.

But the most recent data shows that more than 6 million children die before their fifth birthday. And nearly 300,000 women die in pregnancy.

This is doubly tragic when we consider that most of these deaths could have been prevented with access to clean water, nutritious food, or the most basic health treatments.

We cannot stand idly by while women and young children in developing countries suffer deaths that are easily and inexpensively preventable.

That is why Prime Minister Harper galvanized global action to reduce maternal and child mortality rates through the Muskoka Initiative.

Thanks in part to this effort, and subsequent global action, maternal mortality rates are declining. And millions more children are celebrating their fifth birthday.

Our common goal has not yet been achieved – but it is within arm's reach.

Canadian values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law guide our principled foreign policy and we have a track record of delivering concrete results.

Between 2010 and 2013, Canada's support has helped to provide:

• 5.8 million children with life-saving vaccinations;
• over 180 million children with two doses of Vitamin A each year – a key nutritional element for healthy development, immunity and eyesight; and
• close to 2 million pregnant women each year with iron and folic acid supplements to improve the outcomes of their pregnancies.

As a result, nutrition is improving.

The rates of disease are decreasing.

And more and better healthcare is available.

We can eliminate the preventable deaths of women, newborns and children, and save the millions of lives that hang in the balance.

Canadian organizations and health experts have played a crucial role in what we have achieved to date.

Dozens of Canadian organizations threw their weight and support behind the Muskoka Initiative.

Together, they formed the Canadian Network for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.

We can all be proud of the work they have done around the world and of the leadership Canada has shown on the international stage.

But our job isn't done - not as long as lives are being needlessly lost.

Our progress in saving lives has been slow in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

In Mozambique, for example, while infant and child mortality rates have steadily declined, there has been little progress in decreasing maternal mortality.

In fact, the maternal death rate has not decreased between 2003 and 2011.

The challenges are many.

Health centres in Mozambique are too few, too isolated from each other, too busy and too poorly staffed.

As a consequence, data shows that more than half of maternal deaths in Mozambique are due to delays in reaching a health facility.

More than one-quarter of maternal deaths are due to delays in a woman receiving treatment even after she reaches a facility.

And the remainder are due to delays at the household level.

Such as making the decision to get help for obstetrical problems – an issue often related to poverty, lack of education, and lack of equality between women and men.

The good news is that the international community is helping Mozambique respond to these challenges.

Over the past 40 years, the Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynaecology and Obstetrics has been a leader in maternal and child health in developing countries.

This NGO, working in collaboration with Mozambique’s Ministry of Health, has already put in place 95 “model maternity wards” throughout Mozambique that are improving standards of care and service.

I’m pleased to announce that Canada will be investing $3.3 million over two years to support the work of the Johns Hopkins Program in three target communities.

This funding will help to turn three maternity wards – which have been identified as the highest-use referral centres in the country – into Centres of Excellence.

In other words, centres with a holistic model of care…ones that link communities to providers in order to reduce each of the types of delays that cause maternal deaths.  

Canada will help to put in place networks of local transport providers to ensure that pregnant women can get from their homes to the health centres quickly.

We will support mobile telephone networks to help the health centres communicate more easily with officials in remote districts.

We will support the training of personnel in the basic skills they need to ensure the health of mothers and newborns.

We will strengthen teaching tools and standards to ensure that new and improved approaches can be expanded to other facilities.

And we will support renovations that will enhance training and community connections.

And demonstrate that even in developing countries mothers and newborns can be treated with high-quality care without delay.

Through this and other initiatives, Canada will continue to push the health of mothers, newborns and children to the forefront of the global agenda.

And Canada will once again drive the world to action by hosting the high-level Summit on maternal and child health in Toronto next week.

I am pleased that I will lead a session at the Summit on what the global community can do more together to accelerate progress for the world’s women and children.

Because, saving the lives of women and children is not only a moral imperative – it is the foundation for building prosperous communities for this generation and the next.

This work reflects our most strongly held Canadian values.

And Canada will continue to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

Thank you.