Chaired by Sophie in `t Veld MEP, the event was structured around a BBC documentary screening of "Death mothers don`t cry" and included also a speech delivered by Amnesty International’s EU Office Director Nicolas Beger as well as an audience debate with civil society participants.

Annually, more than half a million women die needlessly due to pregnancy or childbirth, 99 percent in the developing world. Almost all of these deaths are preventable. However, Millennium Development Goal 5 - improving maternal health - is the one MDG goal with the least progress been made.