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Your Excellency, Minister of Health, /
Prof. Kamilov,
Your Excellency Monsieur Pernet
Ambassadors, Members of the diplomatic core,
Representatives of International organizations.
Colleagues,

Thank you for coming. And of course thank you Mr. Kamilov, for your gracious hosting and your encouraging words about EU, Government and UNICEF cooperation.

Firstly, I would like to support the comments made by previous speakers. I commend the clear Government leadership in this huge endeavour and wish to highlight the excellent working relationship we have. UNICEF would like to sincerely thank the EU member countries, and EC to agree to provide financial support for expansion of a viable health sector project in Uzbekistan, and we would be delighted to further expand this partnership in other social sectors both in Uzbekistan and other countries of Central Asia. .

This is a flagship health project for EU. Based on the experience of this project, it is hoped that similar assistance would be extended by the EU to other Central Asian countries. It simply because, improving maternal care and reducing infant mortality are key Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, and EU is fully committed to support the MDGs. Many countries face similar challenges in meeting the MDG’s by 2015. Sharing experiences of this project with partners and other countries is therefore key. In Uzbekistan, the MDG’s serve as a guideline for the next UN Development Assistance framework that will run until 2015.
UNICEF with the Ministry of Health, have piloted the project in Ferghana for a considerable time. Independent analysis states that the newborn mortality rate in the pilot region fell considerably during 2003-2006. The training vastly improved newborn care and staff are now better able to take action. The design of the MCH project marks the culmination of extensive consultations with partners for development of a viable training method to improve capacity of health service providers

Having talked to young mothers in the field myself, I know that they feel far more secure during pregnancy and delivery. And having talked to newly trained healthcare providers, I also know that they feel more confident and better able to deliver quality services, and provide quality care.

It is these, proven successes that we are now rolling out across the country – to at least 8 regions by the end of 2010 .
To ensure families are aware of the care available to them communication is vital. The media have a vital role to play in spreading the message. So, I would request our media colleagues to take the responsibility to let families know that improved care - for you and your children - is on the way.
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Mothers and children represent the well being of society - and meeting their needs is the clearest possible investment for the future. Soon mothers in remote villages will know that they can receive friendly quality, safe care both for themselves and for their children.

The rationale is clear. The preparation is complete and the partnership is in place.

But as the UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon recently noted on the Millennium Development Goals: We know what to do. But it requires an unswerving, collective, long-term effort for success.’

Thank you