2009 Top Stories
April - June 2009
Partners collaboration key to raise profile of maternal + child health in Asia
30 JUNE 2009 | GENEVA - High-level officials from the Asian Development Bank and the International Labour Organization praised the collaborative work of 10 partners in Asia and worldwide aimed to raise the profile of maternal and child health through the recent publication: Investing in MNCH - The case for Asia and the Pacific. The remarks came during a special noon-hour panel focussed on the new publication at the World Health Organization.
Advocacy campaign reaches out to India's Orissa province
23 JUNE 2009 | BHUBANESWAR, INDIA - More than 120 participants, including Orissa's Minister of Finance, Minister of Health, and the Minister of Information attended the dissemination workshop of the Deliver Now for Women + Children Advocacy Campaign in Bhubaneswar, India, on 23 June. The advocacy campaign, led by the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, India, has been carried out over the past 16 months in the eastern state of Orissa, where maternal mortality rates among the highest in India.
Two G8 countries pass resolutions to save mothers and children worldwide
4 JUNE 2009 | OTTAWA and 9 JUNE 2009 | ROME - Two G8 countries and up-coming hosts of the yearly G8 meetings - Canada and Italy - have just passed resolutions in their home parliaments which make strong commitments to saving mother and child lives worldwide and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5. The Resolutions are both timely, as Italy is to host the G8 meeting next month in July 2009, and Canada to do so in July 2010. Resolutions follow work by leaders and partners in both countries.
- Canadian maternal/newborn resolution: more information
- Italian maternal/child resolution: more information
Advancing global health in face of crisis
15 JUNE 2009 | NEW YORK - A special United Nations Forum on health has brought together over 27 leaders and experts to discuss necessary steps to ensure the adequate progress to achieve the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The 2009 report of the Global Campaign for the Health MDGs was also launched during the special session: Leading by Example – Protecting the Most Vulnerable During the Economic Crisis, focuses on the impact of the crisis on women and children, and what countries and partners are doing to protect them
- More information: Special UN Health Forum 14 June 2009
- 2009 report: Leading by example: Protecting the most vulnerable during the economic crisis
WHA Media Briefing
21 MAY 2009 | GENEVA - "Investment needs in maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) in Asia and the Pacific". Media briefing organized by the Australian Mission, UNICEF and The Partnership.
- Full details and documents
- Press release: urgent investment in MNCH - The "best buy" for Asia + Pacific
Leaders urge World Health Assembly (WHA) to invest in maternal health and systems
19 MAY 2009 / GENEVA - Both guest speakers at the 62nd World Health Assembly (WHA) called for Health Ministers to focus and invest in maternal health - notwithstanding the importance of H1N1 Influenza preparedness. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Ms Sarah Brown, wife of the United Kingdom Prime Minister and maternal health advocate, both spoke eloquently on the urgent need to end unnecessary maternal deaths and increase investment in health system strengthening through a focus on maternal health
First national meetings of HCPS
11 MAY 2009 | BURKINA FASO, 16 MAY 2009 | NIGER - The first national meetings of HCPs to follow-up from the Regional HCP meeting in 2008 have taken place in Burkina Faso on 11-12 May and in Niger on 16 May 2009.
- More information on the meeting in Burkina Faso
- HCPAs regional meetings
- Health care professionals documents and reports
Health Care Professionals: Workshops documented
MAY 2009 - A new journal article documenting the work of Regional Workshops with Health Care Professionals (HCPs) has been published in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics: "Delivering services and influencing policy: Health care professionals join forces to improve maternal, newborn and child health".
Focus on maternal and child health at the 62nd World Health Assembly
MAY 2009 | GENEVA - The progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 - to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health - is to be reported upon at the 62nd World Health Assembly. As well maternal health is to be the focus of one of the Assembly's guest speakers on Tuesday: Mrs Gordon Brown, patron of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood.
Letter from the Partnership Board Chair Joy Phumaphi to members & partners
5 MAY 2009 - Dear Partners, Colleagues and Friends, I am writing to share an important milestone on the road towards realizing the vision of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health: a world where all women and children receive the care they need to live healthy, productive lives.
Partnership Strategy and Workplan 2009-2011
5 MAY 2009 - The Partnership Board approved a new strategy and workplan for 2009 - 2011 based on a "partner-driven" approach to collaboration.
Report calls for greater funds for mothers and children in Asia + Pacific
3 MAY / DENPASAR/GENEVA - Financial and fiscal measures to stimulate the ailing global economy should include significant and sustained funding to improve the health of mothers, babies and children in the world’s poorest region. This message from a group of experts from ten international development organizations and foundations in a new publication Investing in Maternal, Newborn and Child Health: The Case for Asia and the Pacific.
- Investing in maternal, newborn and child health: The case for Asia and the Pacific
- Link to the press release
Country investment cases & Countdown planned for Asia & Pacific
APRIL 2009 | CANBERRA/BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - An increased focus on maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) in Asia and the Pacific is being planned by Partners and The Partnership. Country-specific investment cases and a regional Countdown to 2015 MNCH in Asia and the Pacific were discussed at a meeting coordinated by the University of Queensland. As part of the trip to Asia, Partnership Acting Director Dr Flavia Bustreo met with the Australian Parliament's Secretary for International Development Assistance - the Honourable Robert McMullan and with AusAID's Dr Jim Tulloch to discuss investing in maternal, newborn and child health.
Countdown to 2015 urges parliamentarians to save mother and child lives
7 APRIL 2009 | ADDIS ABABA - Some 1500 parliamentarians from 154 countries have been asked to represent and create legislation to save the lives of millions of mothers and children who die needlessly each year. This message was shared with parliamentarians at a Special Session of the initiative, Countdown to 2015 (in Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival) at the 120th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). Other actions of the Countdown at the IPU included a site visit for Parliamentarians to a health care facility and a hospital, organized by the WHO Country Office and Ministry of Health.