Gender equality MDGs are most off track

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) "most off track" for the scheme's 2015 target are those "directly linked to gender equality".

These include MDG 5, which stipulates a reduction in global maternal mortality rates to one-quarter of 1990 levels and that universal access to reproductive health is ensured.

The comments were made by UNFPA executive director Dr Babatunde Osotimehin at the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, which began in Montevideo, Uruguay on Monday.

Delegates are using the summit as a platform to discuss the post-MDG development agenda and the International Conference on Population and Development Beyond 2014 Review.

Dr Babatunde said people in Latin America and the Caribbean are now "more empowered" than they were 20 years ago, but that "much work remains".

"Young people must be able to exercise their right to education, including age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education,"