On May 17th statistics were released by the United nations for the number of women dying of pregnancy and childbirth-related complications. They showed that this number has declined almost by halve in 20 years. However, the report also stressed that greater progress is still needed in significantly reducing maternal deaths.

The report, entitled "Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2000," shows that from 1990 to 2010, the annual number of maternal deaths dropped from more than 543,000 to 287,000 - a decline of 47 per cent. While substantial progress has been achieved in almost all regions, many countries - especially in sub-Saharan Africa - will fail to reach the Millennium Development Goal {MDGs}target of reducing maternal deaths by 75 per cent from 1990 to 2015.

"I am very pleased to see that the number of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth continues to decline," said Babatunde Osotimehin, the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which released the report along with the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank.