The 37th G8 Summit was held in Deauville, France from May 26-27, 2011. The three priorities of the French Presidency of the G8 Summit were the internet and green growth, international peace and security and partnership with Africa. Though health was not a priority of the G8 this year, the Deauville statement reaffirmed a commitment to improving maternal health and reducing child mortality, most notably through the Muskoka Initiative for Maternal, Newborn and Child health launched in 2010. Read more...
Updates
Keeping Promises, Measuring Results: Health Accountability Report Presented at World Health Assembly
May 19th, 2011
Geneva, Switzerland - The United Nations Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health presented their report, Keeping Promises, Measuring Results, and recommendations to increase the likelihood that pledges for women's and children's health are honoured and that resources are spent in the most effective way to save lives. The advance copy of the report was presented at a technical briefing today during the 64th World Health Assembly. Read more...
Survival of women and newborns in crisis
May 17th, 2011
BY: Kate Kerber and Ribka Amsalu; Originally posted on the Healthy Newborn Network (HNN) here
Imagine you are eight months pregnant with your third child with two other young children at home. The ground starts moving violently beneath you and panic sets in. You flee your collapsing home with your children. The aftershocks are intense and dramatic. You have lost family members and friends in the chaos and confusion. The earthquake devastates the healthcare system, leaving you no choice but to deliver your baby alone, or if you are fortunate, in a mobile or temporary clinic. Read more...
Save the Children’s 2011 State of the World’s Mothers Report
May 3rd, 2011
What are the world's best and worst places to be a mother? The 12th annual Mothers' Index analyzes health, education and economic conditions for women and children in 164 countries. This report identifies countries that are lagging behind in the race to save lives. It also shows that effective solutions to this challenge are affordable – even in the world’s poorest countries. Read more...
Women and Children to Benefit from New Recommendations to Improve Health Accountability
May 2nd, 2011
Originally posted by The Partnership for Newborn, Maternal, and Child Health
DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA, 2 May 2011 – New recommendations calling for an unprecedented level of accountability to save the lives of more women and children in developing countries were agreed today by the United Nations Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health. These new approaches will help ensure that pledges are honoured and resources spent in the most effective way to save lives. Read more...
One Year Anniversary of Sierra Leone’s Free Health Care Initiative
April 28th, 2011
On April 27, 2010, Sierra Leone launched a free health care initiative for pregnant women, new mothers, and young children under the age of five. How did a country with a barely functioning health system following more than a decade of brutal civil war manage this and what have the results been? In two new articles, John Donnelly, Senior Consultant for MLI, investigates these questions. Read more…
World Malaria Day: A Focus on Women and Children
April 25th, 2011
By: Janna Oberdorf, Director of Communications and Outreach at Women Deliver
Today is World Malaria Day—and there is much to celebrate. Over the past decade, malaria cases have drastically declined and deaths from malaria have been reduced. As we celebrate the many successes of the past decade in fighting malaria around the world, it’s important to put a spotlight on those who are most vulnerable to malaria—pregnant women and their children. Read more...
Celebrate Solutions: Allowing Community-Driven Ideas to Improve Care
April 25th, 2011
By: Rati Bishnoi, Special Projects Intern at Women Deliver
Over the last two years, thousands of people from all walks of life—from computer engineers to tribal women—in Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Orissa state in India have lent their voices and ideas to improve the quality of maternal and child health care in their communities.
These three areas have something in common – they house some of the worst maternal and child mortality rates in the world. But the barriers and challenges women face to quality care differ for many reasons. Recognizing that community members—including those not usually associated with maternal health care—have a valuable perspective to offer as well as a stake in improving the lives of women and girls, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2009 funded a global partnership between UNICEF and Concern Worldwide to find bold, new ideas for addressing gaps in the delivery of quality care. Read more...
Celebrate Solutions: Kangaroo Mother Care Saves Newborn Lives
April 18th, 2011
By: Mariko Rasmussen, Communications Specialist at Women Deliver
Health of a newborn is closely linked to the health of the mother and the care she receives in pregnancy and childbirth. Sadly, 3.7 million newborn infants die within the first four weeks after birth, with nearly one million pre-term babies dying in their first month of life every year in developing countries. Up to two-thirds of these deaths can be prevented through existing effective interventions delivered during pregnancy, childbirth and in the first hours, days and week after birth. Read more...
Latest News on Every Woman, Every Child
April 11th, 2011
It has been six months since the launch of the UN Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health. Events held throughout March focused on assessing progress made since last September and developing the agenda for moving forward. Click through to find out more…
Celebrate Solutions: Improving Maternal Health and Increasing Awareness in Pakistan
March 28th, 2011
By: Rati Bishnoi, Special Projects Intern at Women Deliver
In a nation where an estimated 14,000 women die each year from pregnancy related causes, the Pakistan Initiative for Mothers and Newborns (PAIMAN) has worked to both improve the ability of the nation’s health care sector to better meet mothers’ needs and increase demand for maternal and reproductive health services. Read more...
CEO of Vestergaard Frandsen Stresses the Importance of Social Responsibility in Business
March 25th, 2011
Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, CEO of Vestergaard Frandsen and one of the Women Deliver 100, gave the keynote speech at The Economist’s conference, The Sustainable Business Summit, where he spoke about the significance of social responsibility. To begin his speech, he paints a bleak picture:
“Imagine you are 10 years old. You are a girl. You’re walking 3 miles under a 110 degree blazing hot sun. You are fetching water. You do this every day, spending time bringing water home to your family; time you could’ve spent going to school. The water you find may look clear, but it is fact swarming with bacteria. Many of your neighbors are now suffering from chronic diarrhea... But this is your only water source, so you drink it anyway.” Read more...
Generating Political Priority: The Case of Newborn Survival
March 21st, 2011
BY: Jeremy Shiffman, Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy at American University; Originally posted at the Healthy Newborn Network blog 
Before 2000, few organizations concerned with global health paid much attention to newborn survival. Since that year, a number have come to address the problem, including foundations, UN agencies, bilateral development agencies, governments of low-income countries, and non-governmental organizations. This wave of attention is surprising: there was no sudden increase in the number of babies dying or swift spread of a virus that alarmed citizens of rich countries. The emergence of attention to newborn survival in a short period of time presents an interesting study in how global health issues come to attract priority. Read more...
Celebrating International Women’s Day & Improving Maternal Health in Nigeria
March 16th, 2011
By: Esther Agbarakwe, one of the Women Deliver 100 Young Leaders from Nigeria
Last week I had the rare opportunity of co-hosting a dinner to celebrate women as part of the Global Dinner Party to celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. The dinner was organized by the Nigeria Health Campaign of the White Ribbon Alliance in Nigeria in partnership with Save the Children Nigeria. Our focus was to enlighten the media about commitments made by Nigeria's government in support of the UN Secretary General's Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health. Read more...
Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development
March 10th, 2011
Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development, was launched March 9, 2011 in Washington D.C. to seek innovative prevention and treatment approaches for pregnant women and newborns in rural, low-resource settings. This partnership leverages the collective resources of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Government of Norway, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, and The World Bank. Partners expect to provide nearly $14 million for this grant program’s first round of funding. Over 5 years, the partners aim to invest at least $50 million in groundbreaking and sustainable projects with the potential to have a transformative effect on the lives of pregnant women and their babies in the hardest to reach corners of the world. Read more...
The Importance of Accountability in Saving Girls’ and Womens’ Lives
February 2nd, 2011
By: Jill Sheffield, President of Women Deliver
I was honored to attend the first meeting of the Commission on Information and Accountability for Womens and Childrens Health that was held in Geneva at WHO Headquarters on Wednesday, 26 January 2011. President Kikwete of Tanzania and Prime Minister Harper of Canada co-chair the Commission, with the Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union, Hamadoun Toure, and the Director General of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, as vice chairs. The 30 members of the Commission (“Commissioners”) were chosen from a wide range of stakeholder groups including governments, international organizations, civil society, the private sector, foundations and academia, and Women Deliver is proud to be one of the civil society representatives. The time-line of the Commission is expected to be both brief and intense, and the action plan has ambitious goals to focus on results and resources. Read more...
Harper Government Announces New Maternal, Newborn and Children Health Initiatives
February 1st, 2011
Last week, at the first meeting of the Information and Accountability Commission on Women’s and Children’s Health, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced support for new development projects that will save the lives and improve the health of mothers and children in Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Bangladesh, demonstrating Canada’s commitment to the G-8 Muskoka Initiative. Read more...
First meeting of Accountability Commission on Women’s and Children’s Health
January 26th, 2011
Originally posted by The Partnership for Newborn, Maternal, and Child Health
High-level Chairs and Commissioners of the new Information and Accountability Commission on Women’s and Children’s Health have convened for their first meeting at WHO. The Commission’s two eminent chairs each led sessions: President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete headed the session on accounting for results with Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper leading the session on accountability for resources. Vice-chairs, Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General of the ITU, and Margaret Chan, Director-General WHO supported discussions focused on papers from the two expert technical Working Groups with 30 high-level commissioners from government, civil society, academia, and multi-lateral agencies. Read more...
Celebrate Solutions: The Reproductive and Child Health Alliance in Cambodia
January 10th, 2011
By: Madeline Taskier, Partnership Coordinator at Women Deliver
The Southeast Asian country of Cambodia borders the South China Sea and is surrounded by Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. The maternal mortality ratio in 2008 was 290 deaths per 100,000 live births, but has been show to be as high as 493 deaths per 100,000 live births in rural areas. Over the last decade, the Cambodian government has increased the availability of reproductive health services, but there is still great need for services among expecting mothers in rural areas. A national program is working to narrow the gaps in care, decrease the urban-rural disparities, and educate community-based health workers to provide lifesaving maternal care. Read more...
DFID Launches “Framework for Results”
January 4th, 2011
The British Government unveiled a landmark plan December 31, 2010 for improving reproductive, maternal and newborn health that could save thousands and impact millions of lives worldwide. Two strategic priorities shape the plan – to prevent unintended pregnancies by enabling women and girls to choose whether, when and how many children they have, and to ensure pregnancy and childbirth are safe for mothers and babies. Read more...