USAID marks its 50th Anniversary this year. In the latest issue of PSI’s Impact magazine, Editor-in-Chief Marshall Stowell interviews senior USAID officials, including Susan Brems, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Global Health, and Scott Radloff, Director of the Office of Population and Reproductive Health. Both share their thoughts on improving the health of women in developing countries and new technologies that promise to advance these efforts. Check out the interviews at www.psi.org/impact6.
Updates
Celebrate Solutions: Reaching Female Refugees, the RAISE Project
May 9th, 2011
By: Madeline Taskier, Partnership Coordinator at Women Deliver
Access to maternal health services is a challenge for many women in developing countries, but women in crisis settings are especially vulnerable to reproductive health risks and maternal health emergencies. Over 42 million people in the world are uprooted and living far from their home countries or regions for months or years at a time—almost half of them are women. Read more...
Happy Mother’s Day: Winners of the Maternal Health Challenge
May 6th, 2011
When ABC News launched their "Be the Change: Save a Life" series, they also partnered with the Acumen Fund and GOOD to launch a "Moms Matter" competition to raise attention to the hundreds of thousands of women who die in pregnancy and childbirth. They asked for submissions in the form of Tweets and print ads, guerrilla marketing campaigns and videos, essays, and a host of other creative ideas with one unifying purpose: to stand up as a global community and to say with one voice, "Enough is enough: moms matter." Read more...
Marching to Celebrate the Indispensable Midwife
May 6th, 2011
By: Joy Marini, Director of Corporate Contributions for Johnson & Johnson, Maternal and Child Health
One day after the International Day of the Midwife, I am gathering with colleagues in Africa to discuss how we can help address the shortage of global health workers.
In sub-Saharan Africa, many women give birth alone, and without a skilled attendant such as a midwife, there is no one to address the complications of child delivery or to advise a pregnant woman to seek more skilled care. In fact, more women in this region die during pregnancy and childbirth than any other place on earth – claiming as many as one in eight lives. Read more...
International Day of the Midwife
May 5th, 2011
By: Janna Oberdorf, Director of Communications and Outreach for Women Deliver
Today, May 5th, is International Day of the Midwife. The world needs midwives now more than ever. The World Health Organization, UN agencies and other global partners have identified that midwives are key to achieving reductions in maternal and newborn deaths and disabilities globally, yet there is a serious shortage. Read more... and get inspired by three midwives honored on the Women Deliver 100 list of the most inspiring people delivering for girls and women, below.
Juliette Coulibaly, Côte d'Ivoire / Imtiaz Kamal, Pakistan / Dorothy Ngoma, Malawi