Updates

By: Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister of the UK, published on the Poverty Matters Blog of The Guardian

Nick Clegg write for the Poverty Matters Blog on maternal mortality and says, "Women are often the heart of the family and without healthy mothers, families communities and societies fail." Read more...

The number of women dying due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth has decreased by 34 per cent from an estimated 546 000 in 1990 to 358 000 in 2008, according to a new report, "Trends in maternal mortality", released by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Bank.

On September 20, White Ribbon Alliance Global Patron Sarah Brown, Mothers Day Every Day Advisor Arianna Huffington and Donna Karan will host the first annual Women: Inspiration & Enterprise (WIE) Symposium for some of the most powerful women in politics, philanthropy, media, fashion and the arts. The WIE Symposium is an opportunity to highlight the ways in which people from all walks of life can contribute to the global effort to put an end to needless deaths from pregnancy and childbirth. In order to ensure that the symposium includes the next generation of powerful women, the WRA has hosted two competitions to support the participation of young champions for women from our National Alliances and from the United States. 50 Young Champions for Women and 7 National Alliance Young Women Advocates were selected to attend the event.