WHY UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH?

MDG 5 is not only about reducing maternal deaths, it is about improving the reproductive health and quality of life for women in the years before they become mothers and throughout adulthood. MDG 5b recognizes that the health and well-being of mothers and their children is influenced significantly by the health, knowledge and choices available to women while they are adolescents and during times that they may be in a sexual relationship, but are not and do not wish to become pregnant. MDG 5b aims to empower girls and women by giving them the freedom to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights. Sexual and reproductive choices, represented and measured by the indicators of MDG 5b, will give women and girls greater decision-making and negotiation power within the sexual and intimate relationships that shape their health and their lives, and enable them to ensure their own health and well-being, and to choose their own life path.