04 October 2007
Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) puts women and children's health in the spotlight
Geneva 04 October 2007 - The global drive to save the lives of women and children received a significant boost last week during the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) held in New York. During the closing session, former President Bill Clinton announced that a total of US$1.25 billion in new funding has been committed to support maternal, child health and survival programmes.
Every year over 10 million women and children still die from mostly preventable causes, the vast majority in developing nations. That translates into the death of a women every minute during pregnancy or childbirth - and the death of a child under five every three seconds.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg led the way with a US$1 billion contribution to maternal and child health.
"Consider the extraordinary generosity of Norway and The Netherlands, who have pledged $1.2 billion to save the lives of millions of women and children” said Thomas Khalil, Chair of the Working Group on Global Health, during his report to the packed closing session of the CGI.
“Imagine what would be possible if the G8 and developing countries themselves embrace the issue of maternal and child health with the same level of passion and intelligence that Norway and The Netherlands have done, inspired by the Deliver Now for Women and Children Campaign” Khalil added.
"The 2007 CGI Annual Meeting has served as extraordinary platform to showcase major financial and political commitments aimed at reducing the burden of maternal and child deaths" said Dr Francisco Songane, Director of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. "We, the alliance of organizations focused on this goal, congratulate the CGI for facilitating this opportunity. We particularly commend the Governments of Norway and the Netherlands for showing the global community the way forward."
The September 2007 CGI Annual Meeting garnered 245 commitments on four focus areas: education, energy & climate change, global health, and poverty alleviation, to save and improve millions of lives around the world.
Related links
- CGI Annual meeting 2007
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Visit: www.delivernow.org
to learn more about the Deliver Now for Women + Children campaign
Live video links
Session: Global health - Strategies to improve maternal, newborn and child health
