Dr Ala Alwan, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, addressing the meeting during the first session
»Meeting full documentation30 January 2013, Dubai – Delegates at a United Nations-convened high-level meeting on saving the lives of mothers and children in the Eastern Mediterranean Region today agreed to urgently accelerate progress on improving maternal and child health between now and the end of 2015. They also committed to reduce the gap between current funding levels and those required if the Region is to meet Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 on reducing maternal and child mortality.

The commitments are laid out in the Dubai Declaration, “Saving lives, Rising to the Challenge”,  which details seven key concrete actions to be taken by all countries in the Region to enable more women and children to access the health services they need.

Countries agreed to develop and execute national plans for maternal and child health; to take measurable steps to strengthen their health systems; to mobilize domestic and international resources to establish sustainable financing mechanisms.