Nearly 3.6 million lives could be saved in 58 developing countries around the world with scaled-up midwifery services, according to a report launched today by UNFPA and partners called The State of the World’s Midwifery 2011. Of these 58 countries, 38 were found to be lagging behind in meeting MDG 5 (reducing maternal mortality by 75%). Unless an additional 112,000 midwives are trained, deployed and retained in supportive environments, these 38 countries might not meet their target to achieve 95 percent coverage of births by skilled attendants by 2015, as required by Millennium Development Goal 5, on maternal health. Globally, 350,000 midwives are still lacking. Read more...
Updates
Save the Date: Women Deliver Announces Third Conference Will Be Held in Malaysia in 2013
June 16th, 2011
A global event devoted to increasing investment in girls and women will bring together advocates, UN agencies, researchers, government officials, and global leaders
New York – Women Deliver announced today that it will hold its third conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 28-30 May 2013. The first Women Deliver conference to take place in Asia, this landmark event will push global and local leaders to deliver solutions that will ensure the health and well-being of girls and women around the world. Read more...
Celebrate Solutions: Reproductive Health for Women in the Workplace
June 13th, 2011
By: Madeline Taskier, Partnership Coordinator at Women Deliver
Across the developing world, women workers are a rising force in manufacturing industries, yet many of these women don’t have access to adequate healthcare or knowledge of their health-related rights in the workplace. The HERproject, founded by BSR (Business for Social Responsibility), is working to change that with a peer-driven health education initiative that focuses specifically on women workers in factories in Pakistan. Read more...
New Global Plan launched to save the lives of mothers and children from AIDS-related deaths
June 10th, 2011
Yesterday, world leaders met at the UN to unveil a Global Plan designed to eliminate new HIV infections among children by 2015 and to keep their mothers alive. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, former US President Bill Clinton, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé and United States Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby launched the Plan along with UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassadors Annie Lennox and Naomi Watts. Read more...
U.S. Bill Seeks to Fund State-Level Inquiries of Pregnancy Related Deaths and Complication
June 9th, 2011
Lawmakers, researchers, advocates, and survivors of maternal complications gathered on Capitol Hill last month to call attention to the worsening state of maternal health in the United States—as well as a new bill that could help answer why so many women die during pregnancy and childbirth in one of the world’s most developed nations. Read more...