Women Deliver: A Global Conference To End Maternal Deaths

World Leaders Meet in 2010 to Stop Needless Deaths During Pregnancy and Childbirth

Women Deliver, a landmark global conference, will be held in Washington DC in June 7-9, 2010 to halt the needless deaths of over 500,000 girls and women who die every year during pregnancy and childbirth, and the four million newborn babies. These tragic deaths are a major contributor to poverty around the world, and can be easily prevented with effective, low-cost investments.

We know that when a woman dies, there's an enormous ripple effect. In many poor countries, a mother’s death after childbirth is a virtual death sentence for her newborn baby. And when a woman becomes ill or dies, her young children are much more likely to drop out of school; her older daughters are more likely to become pregnant at too early an age; her support and income are lost to her family; her children are often left orphaned; and her contributions to her community and her country disappear.

"Women are at the economic heart of the developing world," says Jill Sheffield, president of Women Deliver. "And to do all this work, they need to be healthy."

Following up on the huge success of the first Women Deliver conference in London in 2007, the 2010 conference will attract more than 3,000 participants to look at new and proven ways to save lives. The conference theme is "Delivering solutions for girls and women," and the participants will look at political, economic, social/cultural, and technical solutions. This event will send a strong message that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not be achieved without investing in women, and that the time for action is now.

The 2007 Women Deliver conference in London is credited with "putting MDG 5 (Improve Maternal Health) on the international development agenda," according to representatives at UNFPA. Many of the successes of the London conference will be replicated in 2010, including a Ministers' Forum, hundreds of fact-filled, thought-provoking sessions, and a background paper on the economic impact of women. Delegates from around the world will include cabinet ministers, heads of United Nations and other multilateral agencies, senior government officials, health professionals, researchers, economists, and reproductive health advocates. There will also be new and exciting events, including a Parliamentarian’s Forum, a First Ladies' Consultation, a Corporate Roundtable, a Youth Symposium, and a special one-day session on reproductive health technologies to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of oral contraception.

Invest in Women: It Pays!

Timing is everything: In 2000, 192 countries adopted the Millennium Development Goals to reduce extreme poverty. In 2010, the world will only have five years left to fulfill these promises. One of the eight goals, MDG 5 (improving maternal health), is often called the heart of the MDGs, because if it fails, the others will too. Maternal health is linked to -- and in fact underpins -- all the other MDGs, particularly those aimed at improving newborn and child health, reducing the toll of HIV and AIDS, ensuring universal access to education, and promoting gender equality. Meanwhile, maternal and newborn health still receives inadequate attention and funding.

"With increased political will and adequate financial investment, most women and newborns can survive so that their families, communities and nations can thrive," said Sheffield.

The agenda

Plenary sessions and breakout workshops at the conference will focus on critical areas of investment in women and girls:

• Reproductive health and rights

• Sexual health and rights

• Family planning

• Maternal health

• Newborn health

• Child health

• HIV/AIDS

• STIs

• Gender

• Health systems strengthening

• Climate change and the environment

• Adolescents/youth

• Violence against women

• Women in conflict situations

• Religion

• Human rights

• Education

• Labor