Organized by the Staten-Generaal (Parliament of the Netherlands), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the three-day conference on Maternal and Newborn Health and Survival was held in The Hague, Netherlands, from 26 to 28 November 2008.

The meeting sought to take stock of the current situation in a select number of developing countries, highlight best practices and evaluate progress made in promoting investments and interventions to reduce maternal mortality and support maternal and newborn health and survival. The Conference provided a forum for members of parliament from developing and developed countries to exchange experiences, map out next steps and strengthen parliamentary cooperation to achieve MDGs 5 and 4 (newborn) by 2015.