ESCWA: Arab region made progress in reducing maternal, under-5 mortality

19 / 06 / 2020

By Marwa Nassar - -

The Arab Sustainable Development Report 2020 said the Arab region has realized significant improvement in key health indicators over the past decades, especially with regard to lower maternal and under-5 mortality in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 3) on Good Health and Well-Being.

The Arab region has made some progress in reducing maternal mortality, but the overall regional average remained at 142 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015, twice the global Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target.

The report – issued recently by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) – said the least developed countries have the second highest maternal mortality ratio in the world at 493 deaths per 100,000 live births.

By 2017, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Mashreq and Maghreb subregions had reached the SDG target for under-5 mortality of 25 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Rates in the least developed countries, however, are significantly behind at 77 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Neonatal mortality has declined less rapidly than child mortality in the region and accounts for over 45 per cent of under-5 mortality in 2017.

Life expectancy at birth is on the rise and projected to improve from 71 years in 2015 to 76.4 years in 2050.

In 2015, the average universal health coverage index for the Arab region was around 61 percent, three percentage points below the global average.

The Arab Sustainable Development Report 2020 offers a situation analysis of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Arab region and captures the enormity of the challenges facing Arab countries. As such, it supports the efforts of governments and stakeholders by assessing gaps, highlighting obstacles, and identifying critical entry points.

The 2030 Agenda calls for transformative change and paradigm shifts. Mobilizing domestic and external resources is a pressing challenge in the Arab region, and the pace of efforts on the SDGs must accelerate.

However, transformative change not only requires financial resources and an acceleration of efforts but, above all, demands a shift in orientation and approach towards policy integration, environmental sustainability, and universal human rights with their emphasis on equality, justice, inclusion, fundamental freedoms and participatory politics.

The story of the SDGs in the Arab region, therefore, is also a story of human rights, gender equality, sustainability and integrated development.

Five years into the era of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, the present report is a reminder that the starting point for implementation and the horizon for achievement must be aligned for change to be transformative. It is only through the alignment of policies and other interventions with the overarching framework of the 2030 Agenda that the region, and the world, can hope to achieve the 2030 Agenda.