By: Yousra Yusuf, Women Deliver

Imagine having to live in a cow-shed without any change of clothes for a week every month. Or, imagine being banished to a dark, secluded corner of your house because you are considered to be “cursed”. Seems unrealistic and utterly wrong, right? It did to me. But this is the reality of girls and women in many parts of the world where any mention of menstruation is still taboo. In India, Jayaashree Industries is working to combat that. Read more...

By: Jill Sheffield, President, Women Deliver

While deep into the planning stages of Women Deliver 2010, my phone rang and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s office was on the other end. I was stunned, and also thrilled—it’s not every day that the head of the UN calls to ask to be part of an event. But the Secretary-General’s steadfast dedication to the health and well-being of girls and women has been clear from the beginning. Read more...

By: Kirsten Gagnaire, Global Director of the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA)

Mobile phones are taking center stage everywhere. Moms always have been. So what do you get when you connect moms with mobile phones? The potential for instantaneous positive change for moms, for families, and for the global fight to stop millions of women and children from dying every year, simply because they have no access to basic health care or information. Read more...

By: Harshi Hettige, Women Deliver

Philips Electronics is continuing its work to strengthen healthcare in Africa, after recently showcasing clinical solutions for maternal and child care across Africa. In early August Philips and CNBC Africa partnered to release a new series called ‘African Dialogues.’ The series provides insight into the issues at the intersection of social welfare and business in Africa. Read more...

By: Harshi Hettige, Women Deliver

Goldman Sachs and the Acumen Fund partnered together last month to provide a workshop for rising women entrepreneurs. The two corporations collaborate annually – bringing together female leaders in varying industries (from biotech to floristry to financial services) from the emerging markets of India and Kenya. Read more...

By: Harshi Hettige, Women Deliver

Praekelt Foundation’s Young Africa Live (YAL) is an entrepreneurial endeavor supporting the health and well-being of girls, women, and all youth in a fun and dynamic way.

YAL filled a yawning gap in South Africa’s mobile reach, which neglected to provide consumers with any information about HIV/AIDS - where to get tested, how to practice safe sex, and how to avoid getting it. This information is direly needed, particularly in a country where an estimated 5.6 million people were living with HIV and AIDS in 2009, the highest number of people affected in any nation. Read more...

By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

In Guatemala, where about 120,000 girls and women die from pregnancy-related causes each year, the agricultural company Agrofruit is exploring ways to reduce maternal mortality. The company specializes in growing tropical fruits, and is based in Guatemala.

The efforts began in 2011, when Agroamerica teamed up with a team of American doctors from the University of Colorado to explore the southwestern area known as “trifinio,” where three provinces called San Marcos, Retalhuleu and Quetzaltenango converge. Read more...

By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

Philips Electronics, a signatory to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), announced in June that it would continue its work towards MDG 4 and 5 to reduce newborn and maternal deaths. The announcement took place during the 2012 Cairo to Cape Town Roadshow, while on a stopover in Ghana. During the stopover, Philips representatives showcased several clinical solutions designed to make progress towards reaching MDG 4 and 5. By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

Philips Electronics, a signatory to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), announced in June that it would continue its work towards MDG 4 and 5 to reduce newborn and maternal deaths. The announcement took place during the 2012 Cairo to Cape Town Roadshow, while on a stopover in Ghana. During the stopover, Philips representatives showcased several clinical solutions designed to make progress towards reaching MDG 4 and 5. Read more...

By: GE Africa

Recently, GE Healthcare, in partnership with the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania, commenced the first-of-its-kind training of 14 Tanzanian Healthcare professionals at the Kisarawe District Hospital on GE's Vscan and Venue 40 ultrasound products.

The training is coming after over a year of designing the "Enhancing Training and Appropriate Technologies for Mothers and Babies in Africa" study prepared to assess the feasibility of technology intervention for enhancing antenatal care in resource poor settings. Read more...

By:  Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

The creation of the MDG Health Alliance was recently announced by GBC Health, a private sector nonprofit coalition that works to improve health around the world. The announcement took place at their two-day GBCHealth Conference, in May.

The Alliance is working in alignment with the Millennium Development Goals targeting maternal and child health.  According to the Alliance, there are 5 underlying initiatives, and they will work towards 7 main goals: 1) improve child health; 2) improve maternal health; 3) achieve near-zero malaria deaths; 4) achieve near-zero transmission of HIV from mother to child; 5) recruit, train, and equip one million community health workers; 6) save one million lives from TB-HIV co-infection; and 7) ensure universal access to reproductive health.  Read more...

By: Denis Robson, Director of African Affairs, Johnson & Johnson

Despite the quiet and formal surroundings of Dr. Aminu Mai’s office, matters of birth and death are always at the front of his mind. As an obstetrician in Nigeria, where one expectant mother dies every 10 minutes through no fault of her own, Dr. Mai spends a lot of time thinking about how closely the two events are linked – and how important it is that the country’s birth attendants receive updated information and training to save lives. Read more...

By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

The Nike Foundation continues its commitment to the Girl Effect and the health of girls and women by funding Tostan’s Community Empowerment Programs. 

Tostan is an international grassroots organization. The Community Empowerment Program is a community-based effort that makes use of the power of social networks to promote knowledge and skills sharing. The program was created with the intention of targeting the most vulnerable in the country: rural girls and women and embraces a holistic and participatory approach. Read more...

By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

General Mills and Merck subsidiary MSD India joined forces in 2009 to create the “Join My Village” project to support non-profit organization CARE. They are now due to expand that project from its initial site in Malawi to India.

Join My Village was created to offer girls and women in developing countries a means to access education as a gateway to more economic opportunities and better quality of life. As of December 2011, since launching in Malawi in 2009, the project has released over $1.2 million to CARE. Read more...

By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

Last month, the Safaricom Foundation, a charity funded by telecom provider Safaricom Limited and Vodafone Group Foundation, announced it would be supporting the Huru Re-usable Sanitary Pad Project. The project is run by Huru International, a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Kenya. 

Years of research have repeatedly demonstrated that the unavailability of sanitary pads plays a major role globally in young girls’ dropout rates and missed days of school. According to Huru’s website, many girls miss 3 to 4 days of school every month due to their menstrual period, and according to UNICEF, 1 in 10 girls in Africa do not attend school while menstruating.  This project supports initiatives that are already in place by the Government of Kenya, which has already pledged money towards providing free sanitary pads.  Read more...

By Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

Merck for Mothers, an initiative of the pharmaceutical company Merck (known as MSD in some countries), will be joining forces with the United States Government, the Government of Norway, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Every Mother Counts campaign to target Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5) – to reduce maternal mortality.

According to the United Nations MDG Report 2011, most maternal deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In 2008, maternal mortality in these regions was as great as 640 per 100,000 and 280 per 100,000 live births, respectively. Read more...

By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

Telecom provider Etisalat was recently honored at the GSM (Groupe Spéciale Mobile)Association Awards, for its new maternal health product. The company has received the awards for “Best Mobile Health Innovation” and “mWomen Best Mobile Product” for its innovative service program called “Etisalat Mobile Baby.”

Nearly all maternal mortality cases occur in developing countries, with 1 in 31 deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. Many of these deaths can be prevented by ensuring greater access to information for health workers, more timely arrival at health facilities, and increased ability to recognize problems during pregnancy. Read more...

By: Smita Gaith

In rural India, Drishtee is improving health outcomes, one woman at a time. Previously, the organization set up several health kiosks around rural parts of India; now, they are taking them one step further by organizing them as small franchises. Each kiosk is run by local women who are trained in several different areas, such as maternal health, but also in simpler diagnostic testing such as pregnancy and blood glucose level tests. Read more...