In Haiti it identifies 630 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, the highest rate in the western hemisphere, the reduction of maternal mortality is a priority. The UNFPA supports the policy of the Ministry for the public health and the population in this field, at the time of a press briefing Igor Bosc, representative of the funds of the United Nations for the Population of Haiti (UNFPA) declared "we are building ten maternity hospitals to provide basic maternal and neonatal care in areas affected by the earthquake. Currently, five such clinics being built and we are looking for locations with the Department of Public Health and Population (Ministère de la Santé publique et de la Population MSPP) for the other 5.

Apart from these emergency activities, there are also activities on the long run and for this reason, we support the Ministry for Health in its efforts to gather all the actors so that at the time of the Summit of the Heads of State which will take place of the from September 20th to 22nd on the follow-up of the objectives of the millenium, Haiti can pledge its on what it can do to reduce maternal death, in liaison with its partners.

We thus have, with the ministry, gathered around a table all the actors concerned to see what can be really made to reduce maternal death and I can tell you the commitments which were undertaken:

• By 2015 reduce by 38-10% unmet needs for family planning.

• Establish a multisectoral national coordinating committee, responsible for reporting the progress of implementation of priority actions in maternal and neonatal and measure impact.

• To make functional in the two years the emergency service of obstetric and neonatal of 72 institutions, with the establishment of means of reference and mobile teams.

• Establish and make operational by 2015 a financial mechanism of social protection providing free coverage of family planning and maternal and neonatal enact a law with its implementing decrees on universal access to maternal care and neonatal.

• Strengthening the health system with maternal and neonatal health and family planning as a priority.

These commitments were announced at the Millennium Summit and I hope that donors will support the government to meet these challenges."

S/ HaitiLibre