For too long, efforts to reduce maternal mortality stalled, in part because the facts underlying the problem --and the best strategies to address it --were poorly understood. This report documents UNFPA's efforts to address maternal mortality using a strategic and practical evidence-based approach in a region where data has been scarce,and where too many women have died. Increasing access to emergency obstetric care is central to this approach.

This publication is about gender-responsive programming for poverty reduction in Africa. It demonstrates how gender inequality contributes to poverty, slows economic growth and reduces human well-being. Eliminating gender gaps and gender inequality means bringing the disadvantaged at par with the favored, something that is yet to be achieved in access to education and health in many African countries.