In September, the World Health Organization released a statement on preventing and eliminating disrespect and abuse during facility-based childbirth. In addition to this important agenda, attention is also needed for the dignified care of newborns, who also deserve basic human rights and dignified care. In this commentary, we provide examples from the literature and other sources of where respe...

In its Millennium Declaration of September 2000, the United Nations (UN) adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to be reached in 2015 through concerted efforts worldwide. According to UN calculations, the estimated costs in terms of additional development aid of meeting the MDGs in all countries vary from US$121 billion in 2006 to $189 billion in 2015. It appears that while Asia is we...

A new set of post-2015 development goals for the world is being negotiated. Several potential goals relating to sustainable development, poverty, the economy and health have been identified. Many of them have potential public health gains, although there are inadequacies in how several of them have been defined. In participating in finalization of these goals, Canada should strengthen its commi...

Strategic priority setting and implementation of strategies to reduce maternal mortality are key to the post Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 2015 agenda. This article highlights the feasibility and the advantages of using a systematized tacit knowledge approach, using data from maternal health program personnel, to identify local challenges to implementing policies and programs to inform the ...

The recent global acknowledgement of the importance disaster risk reduction (DRR) in steering world towards sustainable development can be discerned Sendai Framework for DRR 2015-2030 and 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development. Ironically, certain strategies like planned relocation have often undermined agricultural production, which is paramount achieving Development Goals (SDGs), such as ‘Zero P...