15. Stresses the importance of not undermining the ‘acquis’ of the Beijing Platform for Action regarding access to education and health as a basic human right, and the protection of sexual and reproductive rights; emphasises the fact that universal respect for sexual and reproductive health and rights and access to the relevant services contribute to prenatal care and the ability to prevent high-risk births and reduce infant and child mortality; points out that family planning, maternal health and safe abortion services are important elements for saving women’s lives and that the denial of lifesaving abortion amounts to a serious breac ...[+++]h of human rights; calls for the EU to continue to protect sexual and reproductive health and related rights and highlights the need to place these policies at the core of development cooperation with third countries, and in the future action plan on gender equality and women’s empowerment in development for the 2015-2020 period in particular, including by means of political dialogue and specific actions involving local civil society;

31. Emphasises that universal respect for and access to SRHR contributes to the achievement of all the health-related MDGs: prenatal care and the ability to avoid high-risk births, reduce infant and child mortality; points out that family planning, maternal health and safe abortion services are important elements to save women's lives;

In full alignment with ICPD principles, EU development assistance does not promote abortion as a method of family planning.

48. Notes with due seriousness the extreme and pervasive poverty across the Sahel, particularly in Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso, but also in Mauritania; acknowledges the detrimental impact of poverty on the prospects of realising human rights; notes that poverty and underdevelopment disproportionately impact upon women and girls, and expresses grave concern over the high maternal and under-five child mortality rates in the region; draws attention to the inverse relationship between the level of education among mothers and the infant mortality rate; points, accordingly, to the importance of promoting schooling for girls; stresses the UN’s findings of lower mortality rates among better educated mothers as a rallying call for univer ...[+++]sal and accessible education; points out that fast population growth, often at annual rates of over 3 %, puts additional pressure on governments’ capacity to protect even the most basic economic and social rights; considers it necessary, therefore, to provide better access to health services and – as far as sexual and reproductive rights are concerned – to family planning services in particular;