Updates

By: Lisa Russell, MPH, an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker and co-founder of MDGFive.com; Originally posted on Huffington Post

I came across a photograph on my Facebook news feed a few months ago that depicted a mural in Rome scribed with the quote, "The role of the artist is to make revolution irresistible."

As a documentary filmmaker and social activist, my first reaction was to share it amongst my more so-called "radical" artist colleagues who are participating in revolutionary movements, such as those in the Middle East, or protesting police brutality in New York City, or engaging in some other form of political protest. However, I realized I should have forwarded it to my maternal health colleagues as well. Read more...

By: Carole Presern, The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health; Originally posted on Huffington Post Impact

In three short years we will reach the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

The international community has certainly made incredible inroads since these targets were set by world leaders in the year 2000 to significantly slash extreme poverty and disease. Read more...

By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

Philips Electronics, a signatory to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), announced in June that it would continue its work towards MDG 4 and 5 to reduce newborn and maternal deaths. The announcement took place during the 2012 Cairo to Cape Town Roadshow, while on a stopover in Ghana. During the stopover, Philips representatives showcased several clinical solutions designed to make progress towards reaching MDG 4 and 5. By: Smita Gaith, Women Deliver

Philips Electronics, a signatory to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), announced in June that it would continue its work towards MDG 4 and 5 to reduce newborn and maternal deaths. The announcement took place during the 2012 Cairo to Cape Town Roadshow, while on a stopover in Ghana. During the stopover, Philips representatives showcased several clinical solutions designed to make progress towards reaching MDG 4 and 5. Read more...

By: Lindsay Menard-Freeman, Women Deliver

If you brave the helter-skelter road out of the capital city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh—where rickshaws, motorcycles, and oversize trucks compete with cows for two narrow lanes—then turn onto the dirt road between the rice fields, you will find something remarkable in the quiet village of Devpuri. Despite India’s dire maternal and newborn health record (each year, 78,000 women die giving birth and a million babies don’t survive their first month), mothers and newborns are surviving. Read more...

By: Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin; originally posted in The Huffington Post

My mother, Morenike Osotimehin, was a remarkable woman. A great entrepreneur, and an excellent wife to my father, who was a schoolteacher, she managed her own small business, sourcing fruits, and gave birth to eight children: four boys and four girls.

She was born in 1924, she was strong -- and she was an inspiration. Every day was a balancing act between work and the requirements of a big family. She understood that each one of us must live a productive life and contribute to society, and she insisted that we go to school, work hard and do our very best. But she also had a soft spot for those not doing so well. Apart from her own children, my mother regularly took in cousins and nephews who needed help. Sometimes there were as many as 15 of us in our home. Read more...

Every Mother Counts, an advocacy and mobilization campaign aiming to increase education and support for maternal mortality reduction worldwide, invites the world to take part in their No Mothers Day campaign this Sunday, May 13th. No Mothers Day is a social issue campaign, being implemented to raise awareness about the hundreds of thousands of young girls and women who die each year during from causes relating to pregnancy and childbirth. The idea is to take a moment aside while many people in the world are celebrating their mothers to understand the issues surrounding maternal deaths around the world. As part of the campaign, the website encourages the world to “go silent” in an act of solidarity for the “missing mothers,” women who die from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes around the world, and those who are vulnerable to high-risk pregnancies. 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...

By: Dr. Jotham Musinguzi, Regional Director of the Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office; Originally published in The Independent

A few weeks ago, on 8 March, the world celebrated International Women’s Day, which serves as a clarion call to honor girls’ and women’s contributions to their families, communities and nations. As our global population swells to over 7 billion, we must heed this call by working to ensure that every girl and woman lives a long, healthy and happy life.

Here in Africa, we are doing just that. On 27-28 March, policymakers, researchers and advocates from across the continent – including Ugandan First Lady Janet Museveni and Minister of Health Honorable Dr. Christine Ondoa – are gathering in Kampala for a regional consultation on maternal and reproductive health. At this meeting, convened by Partners in Population and Development and global advocacy organization Women Deliver, experts will discuss lessons learned, best practices and challenges for improving the health and wellbeing of girls and women. Read more...

By: Christy Turlington Burns, mother, model, film-maker and founder of Every Mother Counts; Originally posted on the Dfid blog

I celebrated the 101st International Women's Day in the halls of the United Nations last week. I followed Twitter, and shared blogs and news stories that collectively called we women to action. When I take a step back, as I did last week, I'm reminded that the "women's rights are human rights" movement is still very much a process in many parts of the world. One thing that I have noticed through filming women around the world is that most of us girls and women are inspired by one another's stories.

Stories create hope. Everywhere I travel, I listen to stories that blow my mind with the courage, personal sacrifices and perseverance of so many women. Read more...

By: Adeolu Ogunrombi, one of the Women Deliver 100 Young Leaders
Originally posted on Adeolu’s blog

The truth that adolescent girls occupy the lowest rank in the hierarchy of gender power relationships and its effect on their holistic development is an issue of utmost importance and urgency. My mind went down memory lane and remembered an experience I had some years back while working with a health facility supported by the World Bank to provide care and treatment on HIV/AIDS in one of the North Central states, very close to Abuja the Federal Capital of Nigeria.

There was a time we noticed in the HIV counseling and testing unit that so many of our clients coming from a particular village within the suburb were testing positive for HIV. The incidence became of concern to me and my colleagues and we were curious to know why this was happening in a village that has little or no social infrastructure. Read more...