Thomson Reuters Foundation: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights is key to achieving the SDGs
Mette Knudsen, Denmark’s ambassador to Kenya, and Siddharth Chatterjee, United Nations resident coordinator to Kenya

“…[To] maintain [the momentum of progress toward a decline of the maternal mortality and childhood death ratios in Kenya, the country] needs to urgently address issues affecting the health sector, create room for improvement, and explore new avenues to expand universal primary health care through partnerships. … Improving maternal and child health in [the six counties that accounted for close to half of all Kenya’s maternal deaths through a government and U.N. partnership] has positively impacted national trends and statistics. The initiative has mobilized a multitude of partners across sectors to go where not many went before and to collectively and holistically help increasing demand for and access to affordable quality maternal and child health care. The Government of Denmark has committed $6 million to the second phase of the maternal and child health six county initiative. … By engaging a wide range of partners there is great potential to develop new models that offer the best of both public and private sector, with the potential for scaling-up the delivery of health care for vulnerable and poor populations in low-resource settings. … In a shifting landscape, it is increasingly critical to break down the silos that have traditionally governed development financing and implementation. … [T]o make a difference for the one thousand women and girls who die every day in pregnancy or childbirth globally, we need to combine our efforts…” (3/30).