The experts agree: with increased political will and adequate financial investment, most women and newborns can survive so that families, communities and nations, can thrive.

Every minute of every day, a woman dies needlessly during pregnancy or childbirth, most in the developing world.

Ten million women are lost in every generation – our mothers and sisters, daughters and grandmothers, wives and partners, neighbors and friends.

Huge disparities exist between rich and poor countries, and between the rich and poor in all countries.

• One in six Afghan women will die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth.
• One in 2,500 women will die of these causes in the United States, and one in 29,800 in Sweden.

At the same time, four million newborn babies die every year, also from causes that are mainly preventable and typically linked to the health of the mother.

Click here to read more.

Twenty years ago, the Safe Motherhood Initiative was launched. Its goal: to cut maternal deaths worldwide by half. Two decades of study and experience later, we know how to save lives. WOMEN DELIVER united diverse sectors to act on that knowledge NOW.

Click here to see more on the Safe Motherhood Initiative.

• Spotlight the critical connection between women's health, rights, education, and poverty reduction.
• Encourage governments to integrate women’s health and rights into national plans and strategies.
• Kick off a campaign to raise substantial additional resources-from public and private sectors.
• Convince the world community to use the health of women, mothers, and babies as a key indicator of the health of nations.