Updates

By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

Today, TedxChange and Melinda Gates launched the No Controversy website, in the hopes that people around the world will share their stories, read about the experiences of others, and become educated on the importance of contraception and family planning. The launch, which is available on Livestream, comes three months ahead of the July 11 Family Planning Summit that will take place in London. The Summit, supported by the Department for International Development (DFID), The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other partners, seeks to generate political commitment and greater resources to meet the family planning needs of women in some of the least wealthy countries by 2020. Read more...

By: Yemurai Nyoni, Zimbabwe (President: Zimbabwe Young People's Network on SRH; Executive Committee Member: African Youth and Adolescents Network on Population and Development) to participants at the Africa Regional RMNCH Advocacy Strategy Implementation Meeting hosted by PMNCH and the Africa MNCH Coalition

Today we have the largest youth population in history. This demographic trend translates to the need for deliberate investment in the development of young people in the broader global development context, because our gains in this regard rely greatly on what we do and don't do for young people.

As a young person, I appreciate that efforts have been made by African governments to involve us in the development processes that affect us. Read more...

By Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

Future Generations’ “Between Us (Women): Sharing Pregnancy Histories as Part of Community Education for Maternal and Neonatal Health” is about far more than just telling stories.

The innovative program—which is currently being tested in Peru by Future Generations—is designed to help women share their voices and experiences with others to save the lives of mothers and newborns living in some of the remotest regions in the Latin American country. 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...