Good morning, your Excellency Vice Minister, Sra. Natalia de Araujo, 

President of APTL, Sra Lidia Gomes, 

Ibu Siti

Distinguished guests and participants, ladies and gentlemen.

I thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak to you today and congratulate the organizers of this workshop to socialize the Code of Ethic and professional standard. APTL has brought together midwives from throughout the nation to share your expertise and learn from each other. UNFPA is pleased to participate in this initiative to formulate a code of ethics and discuss the professional standards-crucial elements in the overall efforts to improve the availability, accessibility, and quality of the midwifery workforce in Timor Leste.

With just over 400 days left until the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) deadline, concerted efforts are required to scale up interventions to provide midwives with the skills, tools and enabling environment to ensure that every pregnancy and delivery is safe. Such investments are critical to accelerating efforts to improve maternal health and achieve MDG5, one of the goals lagging farthest behind.

Access to quality health care is a basic human right. Yet annually, over 18,000 women in Timor-Leste give birth without skilled care, increasing the risk of death and disability for both the mother and newborn. A pregnant woman in Timor-Leste has nearly four times the risk of dying in childbirth as her sister in Indonesia. Timor-Leste needs midwives now more than ever. Investments in midwives can help avert a significant number of the over 200 maternal deaths and 2,000 newborn deaths that occur every year due to the lack of well-educated and regulated health workers and adequate facilities. And midwives deliver more than babies: they also provide other life-saving reproductive health information and services, including antenatal, postnatal care and family planning.

On behalf of UNFPA, I salute your dedication and commitment to make a difference in the lives of women and children, and your determination to see a healthier Timer-Leste. Whether you are a policy maker, manager, teacher or a midwife working in the Sucos - all of you are equally essential to the cause of APTL. Your combined capabilities and dedication works towards achieving MDGs 4 and 5 and making Timor-Leste one of the mother and child friendly nations. UNFPA reaffirms our pledge to support midwives nationally as we work towards the goal of ensuring that every pregnancy is safe and that universal access to sexual and reproductive health services is a reality for all.

I wish you all a fruitful discussion during the 2 day workshop. 

Parabens ba imi hotu parteira Timor-Leste! Obrigado barak!

(Congratulations to all of you midwives of Timor-Leste. Thank you very much!)