Updates

By: Dr. Koki Agarwal, Director for the Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (MCHIP)

This post is part of a series created in partnership by WASH Advocates and Women Deliver. For more information, please contact Cecilia Snyder csnyder@WASHadvocates.org.

The Global Action Plan of the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) provides a framework to prevent and treat disease in children using proven interventions that have already contributed to major reductions in child mortality. Aligned with MCHIP’s mission to utilize an integrated approach across health programs, this first-ever unified effort to protect children from two leading killers—pneumonia and diarrhea—at once will save countless lives and help countries achieve their MDG 4 targets. Read more...

By: Carmen Barroso, Regional Director of IPPF-WHR; Originally posted on Huffington Post

There's a lot of talk about investment these days; as the global economic crisis stumbles on, social services are cut from the USA to Uruguay, and the planet faces ever more urgent environmental threats. But next week, women and policymakers from around the world will gather in Malaysia to foment a revolution. Their call? Investment of a different kind, investment in girls and women for the sake not only of people, but also for the planet. Read more...

By: Danielle Keiser

This post is part of a series created in partnership by WASH Advocates and Women Deliver. For more information, please contact Cecilia Snyder csnyder@WASHadvocates.org.

Now and since the dawn of time, girls and women have bled every month. Even though many accept it is as natural and normal process in human life, menstruation is still treated as the ultimate taboo in many cultures and societies.  If it is discussed, it is done so with shame, embarrassment and disgust. Read more...

By: Jill Sheffield, Founder and President of Women Deliver; Originally posted on Huffington Post

Last month, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize nominee in history. Less than six months earlier, she was shot at point-blank range by those who wanted to silence her for promoting girls' education in her native Pakistan. In a world that too often punishes and oppresses women, and tells girls that they cannot achieve, Malala is a beacon of hope. Read more...

By: Dr. Neeraj Mistry, Managing Director of the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases

This post is part of a series created in partnership by WASH Advocates and Women Deliver. For more information, please contact Cecilia Snyder csnyder@WASHadvocates.org.

To remind ourselves why it is so vitally important to make improvements to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), all we need to do is take a look at what’s in the dirty water. Lurking in infested water sources are parasitic worms that cause diseases such as human hookworm and schistosomiasis. These infections spread easily in communities that don’t have access to clean water or sanitation facilities. Read more...

Women Deliver is delighted to announce the winners of the social media contest to attend Women Deliver 2013 global conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This was a chance to win a ticket to the decade’s most important event for girls and women for the social media savvy.

Applicants were able to compete in three competitions by either submitting a photo demonstrating how women deliver; designing the next Women Deliver social media badge; and/or tweeting a dream for the future.

Thank you to the hundreds of participants for your submissions. Each one conveyed passionate dedication to improving the lives of girls and women. Read more...

By: Dr. Helene D. Gayle, President and CEO of CARE USA and Dr. Julia Newton-Howes, President and CEO of CARE Australia

Next month, representatives from leading NGOs, advocates, government officials and donors will gather at the Women Deliver 2013 Conference in Kuala Lumpur to ensure that the health and rights of girls and women remain at the forefront of global humanitarian and development agendas.

Since the first conference in 2007, there has been an unprecedented expansion of global commitments to the health and welfare of women and girls. Real progress has been made indicated by a 47 percent decline in maternal mortality worldwide between 1990 and 2010. Read more...

This contest is now closed. Women Deliver held a contest to win free registration to the Women Deliver 2013 global conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This was a chance to win a ticket to the decade’s most important event for girls and women for the social media savvy. Read more...

By: Jhpiego

Jhpiego, a global health non-profit and affiliate of Johns Hopkins University, works to prevent the needless deaths of women and their families. For 40 years and in more than 155 countries, Jhpiego has been innovating to save lives by developing low-cost solutions to global health challenges. Read more...

By: Dr. Denise Dunning, Program Director, Public Health Institute

Girls and women in Liberia are successfully advocating for their rights in the face of pervasive gender-based violence. During Liberia’s 14-year civil war, 75% of girls and women were victims of rape and 90% experienced some form of physical or sexual violence. To combat this devastating legacy in post-conflict Liberia, the Adolescent Girls’ Advocacy & Leadership Initiative (AGALI) is improving girls’ rights, health, education, and livelihoods. Read more...

By: Williams Moi; Originally posted on KeyCorrespondents.org

The Key Correspondents Programme is covering the Women Deliver 2013 global conference live from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia May 28 – 30. 

Once upon a time, there was a woman from eastern Uganda who walked all the way from Kamuda village to Soroti town 12 kilometres away only to deliver on the bare ground outside the hospital while people looked on. Luckily enough, I had visited the hospital administrator that day. He told me he had seen people gather around a woman in the hospital compound grounds. “It was a pity as people continue to stare at her as she fell on the bare-ground on her back ready to deliver. She spreads and kicked her legs on the bare ground,” he said. Read more...

The Techniques and Technology (Tech & Tech) is a new and exciting feature at Women Deliver 2013, co-hosted by PATH and Women Deliver. It offers a platform for informing and demonstrating to the conference public innovative and useful tools or products improving the health and well-being of girls and women. The co-hosts received many innovative entries from sponsors and exhibitors, from which the most useful and relevant to the Women Deliver 2013 public were chosen. We are excited about the line-up of important methods that will be shared with an expected 5,000 conference attendees. Read more...

By: Janna Oberdorf, Director of Advocacy and Communications for Women Deliver and Deborah Van Dyke, Executive Director, Global Health Media Project; Originally posted on Huffington Post

While International Women's Day is a day for us to remember the many achievements and advancements for women around the world, it is also a day to remember how far we still need to go, particularly when it comes to improving health care services provided to mothers and their babies. Although global maternal deaths have dropped by nearly 50 percent since 1990, 287,000 mothers-to-be still die every year -- that is 800 women every day. More than 200 million women want, but do not have, access to the tools and resources they need to plan their families. Countless girls are held home from school; violence against women is all-too-common; and girls and women continue to face barriers at nearly every rung of the economic, social and political ladders. As a global advocacy organization, Women Deliver is working hard to change these statistics and improve maternal and reproductive health access and rights around the world. Read more...

By: Rati Bishnoi, Catapult.org

In Kayes, Mali, nearly every woman experiences female sexual mutilation (FSM)—either having all or parts of her external genitalia surgically removed for cultural or non-therapeutic motives. However, Équilibres & Populations and Association Malienne Pour le Suiviet l’Orientation des Pratiques Traditionnelles (AMSOPT) are fighting the staggeringly high (98 percent) FSM rate, one community at a time. Read more...

By: Maz Kessler, Founder, Catapult

What do Beyoncé and Catapult have in common? Yes, it’s true, in addition to founding Catapult, I’m also a musician. But the real answer is that a number of incredible women, including Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Salma Hayek-Pinault, are taking the lead on a new global initiative: CHIME FOR CHANGE. Founded by Gucci, and powered by Catapult. Read more...

In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8,  Women Deliver invites you to vote for three social enterprises making a difference for girls and women.
Voting has now closed.

Voting begins today to determine the top social enterprises that deliver for girls and women. This contest is a continuation of a tradition at Women Deliver. Every year, in honor of International Women’s Day (March 8th), Women Deliver highlights the global progress being made for girls and women. In 2011, our Women Deliver 100 list spotlighted 100 inspiring people who work every day to improve the lives of girls and women. In 2012, we featured 50 organizations and projects delivering for girls and women.

This year, we are asking global advocates like you to vote on three of these 25 enterprises that you believe are truly making a difference for girls and women. Read more...