The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were launched on 25 September 2015 and came into force on 1 January 2016 for the 15-year period until 31 December 2030. Among the 17 SDGs, the direct healthrelated targets come under SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. With the adoption of the SDGs, the United Nations Member States extended the global commitments they had made in 2000 to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which covered the period up to the end of 2015.

In anticipation of the launch of the SDGs, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners released a consensus statement and strategy paper on ending preventable maternal mortality (EPMM). The EPMM target for reducing the global maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by 2030 was adopted as SDG target 3.1: reduce global MMR to less than 70 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births by 2030. In November 2021, EPMM launched new coverage targets to meet the SDGs, and these were supplemented with a number of global, national and subnational EPMM indicators to highlight the need to increase coverage of quality maternal health care and improve women’s ability to make their own decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.