OTTAWA - Stephen Harper is setting off on a motherhood mission that's being called "the logical next step" in the United Nations effort to help Third World mothers and children.
The prime minister departs early Tuesday for Switzerland, where he will co-host a UN commission that's been set up to establish benchmarks for a $40 billion initiative.
The aim is to complete a common reporting mechanism by May for the combined maternal health projects of the G8 and the UN millenium development summit.
It may sound like a dry, bureaucratic exercise but the outcome has fiscal, moral and political implications.
The accountability measures will not only ensure that billions in donor pledges actually materialize, advocates say they may also help determine what kinds of programs get funded -- including controversial safe abortion services.
Harper's whirlwind trip will take him to Geneva and then Rabat, Morocco, before he returns to Canada late Thursday.
